Blyth 10K: Race Report

Danielle Rutherford sends this report from yesterdays Blyth Valley 10K

Having decided to do the Blyth 10km only the day before I wasn’t sure how things would go. I arrived to the late registrations around 9:10 and was given my number pretty quickly. After pinning my number on and dumping my things in the car I bumped into Jude and Kate who had come along to take part in the race. We took a short walk around the start/finish line and bumped into a few more TBH members hanging around the start. I was feeling good the weather was nice – sunny but not too hot and a slight wind but nothing compared to some of the winds faced on the moor on a Saturday morning. This was only my second 10km race, having only run one last June when I was fairly new to running so I was looking for an improvement and to get as close to 60mins as I could manage.

The whistle went and we were off! Lots of coloured vests from different clubs went past and we turned out of the port onto a residential area. This road took us to the beach where headed on to the promenade then onto a path which took us through some small dunes next to the beach. As I approached the 3 mile mark I could see runners coming back on the other side and they were flying! I saw some TBH vests and this gave me a little boost but the dreaded mistake of starting too fast had took it’s toll and I stopped to take a breath, I then saw Kate waving at me on the other side of the road and off I went again. We hit the half way point where I was greeted with a much needed drink of water and then I knew I was heading back, which is always a good feeling.

Miles 3-5 were tough as we were in the open and I could feel the wind pushing against me. I saw someone a little in front of me and tried my best to keep up with them right till the end telling myself not to stop. Once I hit the residential area again with a bit of shelter I knew there wasn’t far to go and clapped by the marshals and other runners who had finished the race I stuck in and headed to the finish. The run to the finish always seems so much further away than it is but as I approached the finish line there were two runners ahead and a supporter shouted ‘go on you can take them’ I picked my pace up and went for a sprint finish and overtook them which I must admit felt fantastic!

The course was lovely, flat as promised and very well organised; I’ll be back next year to have another go!

Danielle Rutherford