Race Report by Claire Newman
Well last night was lots of fun! We headed off (in Lisa’s fancy car again) to Market Harborough for Tunnel Vison Night and Dawn Runs. An out and back 5 mile run in that dark that takes you through a long tunnel.
We turned up in our brightest run gear, chest/head torches, and dayglo face paint but once we saw the rest of the runners we felt slightly under-dressed. People went all out for this, there were people decked out in fairly lights, full-body lit up costumes, and flashy adornments galore!
At the start we all headed of down a very narrow trail path lit only by the participants themselves. It was pretty claustrophobic at the start as there wasn’t really any space to overtake and when a space did appear several people would launch themselves at it only to be met with an inconvenient tree. Everyone was in good spirits though and there was lots of polite “excuse me, coming through”, “watch out for that bush”, and “I love your Christmas lights”.
After a mile it spread out a bit so got more comfortable. There were some exciting water features on the way which could surprise you if you hadn’t been paying attention to everyone else’s route around them. At around two miles we hit the tunnel and the front runners started to come back towards us. The tunnel was easier to run in than I thought, but again there were water features, which caught Paul C out and he took a tumble in one right in front of the photographer.
At the turn point you are given a gift to prove you made it, this year they were funky flashing glasses, I tried to wear them but the strobe affect whilst running was not great 🤮 they did look rather fetching perched on my head though.
The first 2.5 miles were uphill, so the last 2.5 miles were back downhill and faster. I found miles 2-3.5 really congested, there was zero space to overtake as out and back lanes were packed. After 3.5 it spread out again and I could make use of the downhill. I managed some pretty sexy negative splits for this race which I well chuffed with.
At the finish I ran straight past my medal as couldn’t see it in the dark 🤦♀️ I did queue for a bit for the free hot drink, but thequeue was quite long and i decided i wasn’t that bothered. I did pick up my pre ordered beers, including one named after race.🍻
The marshalls and all the organisers were massively enthusiastic and lovely, you could really tell they enjoyed doing this event as much as the participants were enjoying running it.
I blooming loved this race, it was well organised and tons of fun. I’d really like to come back next year. If I lived closer I’d do the morning one aswell, but alas I have to go to work instead 😫
Oh yeah…..5 mile PB 📣📣📣📣📣📣📣🥂