On a cool but sunny Sunday in early June, daughter and I drove to the pretty Cotswold market town of Fairford for their annual 10k race. Organised by the Cirencester based club, Running Somewhere Else, and put on in conjunction with the Fairford Festival, this was a well organised event with: plenty of parking, a covered HQ with bag drop, a good number of portaloos on site. There were stalls offering a variety of food and drinks. My only quibble was the lack of t-shirt for finishers (we knew this when we entered), something that used to be offered at the event and that I always value.
We had entered the race at Elder Son’s behest so it was disappointing when he had to withdraw due to injury. His place could have been transferred to someone else (possible up to a week before the race) but the lack of t-shirt meant husband wasn’t interested and son’s running colleague wasn’t available.
The race was due to start at 10.30am. Daughter and I arrived in Fairford around 9.45am and found plenty of signs around the small town directing us to allocated parking. This was in a field by a rugby pitch, with a marshal standing by the entrance to point the way in. The field was large and flat, with another marshal directing traffic to ensure cars were sensibly placed. Once parked we could see the festival tents, set up around the adjacent cricket pitch. It was a short walk from car to race HQ.
First, though, we sought out the promised portlaloos. We know from past races that, no matter how many are provided, queues build as start time approaches. When we arrived the queue was half a dozen people deep so there were no issues. By the time runners were being called to the start point half an hour later the queue was a lengthy snake.
Race bibs were to be picked up on the day and all was clearly signed to enable this to be done quickly and efficiently. We had been told pens and pins would be provided. This was indeed the case although pens seemed in short supply. After a short search daughter managed to acquire one and we filled out our emergency contact details before attaching bibs to t-shirts.
The bag drop was in the HQ tent but with our car parked so close by we opted to use this instead.
We had plenty of time to look around and find the start point – on a closed road just beyond the cricket club building. A junior race was underway and we enjoyed watching the fierce determination of some of the younger competitors.
Strava tells me that the 10k race started bang on time, something that always pleases me. It is a chip timed event so we positioned ourselves well back to allow faster runners space to set off at pace. Running on a closed road helped minimise congestion. By the time we had turned onto roads where traffic could be – although all proved pleasingly quiet – runners had spread out and could stay to one side when a vehicle wished to pass. There were plenty of marshals at turning points so it was clear throughout what direction to take.
The course was described as undulating. The first half of the race involved a great deal of up and down. There was one hill I would describe as steep and lengthy – I dropped to a walk for some of this to conserve energy for later. Beyond this, the approach to the halfway point was a mile long hill that was also fairly steep in places and seemed to go on forever – again, I dropped to a walk for some of this. At the top was a water station – very well placed.
The hill then levelled out and there was a turn towards the 6km mark. Here the vista opened up and we could appreciate why the course is described as scenic. Listening to other participants who had run the race before I knew that the rest of the course was now downhill. This is what I had conserved energy for and I opened up my stride and went for it.
Even with gravity helping, 4km is quite some distance for me to hold a faster pace. As we re-entered the town, and with 1km to go, I was flagging. Residents had come out on a residential street to cheer participants through, which was helpful. On reaching the High Street there were some twists and turns before the finish finally came within sight. I had obviously paced myself well as I had nothing left for the hoped for sprint finish. I crossed the line a few minutes over the hour but, given the hills, I was happy enough with that time. I had run the day before so wasn’t expecting or going for a PB.
Chip timing relied on a velcro tag provided with the bib and attached to trainer laces. These were collected at the end so will hopefully be reused. I picked up my medal feeling I had earned it and gratefully accepted the offered banana. I then drank 4 beakers of water in quick succession and felt much better.
Leaving the finish area a helpful lady by the First Aid tent pointed us towards a ‘Results’ flag. Here we could pick up our official time and place details, printed off on a small sticker that could be attached to the back of the medal. I was glad to have taken this as the official results list wasn’t made available until the following day. My official time matched the time on my watch so I do wonder if there had been a problem with the chip start line.
It was good to see many local running clubs taking part. First Finisher was Matthew Lock from Witney RRC in a time of 32:13. There were 304 finishers on the day. These included 81 year old Martin Ford from Cheltenham & County Harriers who finished in 50:16.
A race I ran for the pleasure of taking part rather than to aim for a fast finish, although I did put in some effort. As hoped, it was thoroughly enjoyed, helped no doubt by the fine weather.
If finisher t-shirts could be reinstated I would certainly enter again. If other family members want to, I guess I would do so anyway.
