Race Report by Michael Hammond
After completing the Draycote water 10k on 14 May, I was looking for another 10K in June to prepare me for the 2 castles on Sunday 11 June.
The tag line on the website for Tysoe said ‘If the hills don’t take your breath away; the views will’. It was an ideal opportunity to try my first 10k that wasn’t all on road. The tag line didn’t disappoint !
I managed to arrive in good time (despite my ancient TomTom satnav not recognising the new roads) and was pleased to see a car full of Masseys’ runners welcoming me in the car park.
This being my fourth 10k I always start off at a steady pace and apart from my base ball cap blowing off in the wind (I managed to retrieve it) it was a good start; waving to the drone that will hopefully have some good evidence of the run. The weather was gloriously sunny with a nice breeze.
Starting off on road , before the climb over fields (and I mean climb!) to the Windmill I quickly realised that I would need to walk and take in the views.
The 5K runners got to the windmill and then came straight back down… at great speed !
The main group were now small dots on the landscape, but reassuring me that I was still going the right way (along with the stewards).
Concentration is much more important on a trail race and avoiding: uneven ground, cow pats, and sheep pooh is good incentive to keep upright.
The fields and inclines made the straight roads all the more welcome and after the decline the finishing straight was nice and flat.
Forgetting my conversion table for miles to Kilometeres I had no idea how far I had gone when the end was in sight.
I ran/walked the majority of the race on my own and was pleased to get an encouraging cheer as I crossed the finish line. I think my time was around 1hr 15mins .
The all important medal now hangs next to my others: a reminder of a challenging but enjoyable course that I would definitely recommend. Same time next year ?
Michael Hammond.