16th
June 2010 & 6th September 2010
Last year I went over to the west coast of
The first race we went to was the Gosforth 10 mile road race. This was on
a nice evening in the middle of June
and what I thought in my wonderful wisdom would be perfect preparation for the
coming weekends Freck Half. The fact
I had hardly run due to injury for a couple of weeks really didn’t put me off.
I really can be very silly at times.
Living in Fleetwood we don’t get any hill running of any standard on our
local training runs, so travelling to these kind of races is ideal extra training.
I don’t like to start with easy stuff obviously; you may as well get up to the Lakes if you want proper hill training,
right? Angela isn’t the biggest
lover of running up massive hills but I told her it was lovely round there and
the 10k route wasn’t as hard as the Great Langdale 10k, so off we went.
As we rarely run over anything higher than
a grape in Fleetwood I really should
have expected to suffer. It came as a total surprise to my innocent little legs
though! Angela set off expecting it
to be relatively undulating but not too tough after listening to my expert
review of the area. She realised I was talking out of a pretty southerly part
of my body quite soon into the race!
The first three miles followed the coast
road south and really did just have acceptable undulations, then we turned east
towards the fells and the suffering began. I suppose I should have known better
than to take 
the course so lightly as it is in the Lake District, especially as we had both done a full days work
before the two and a quarter hour drive to Gosforth.
The course continued mainly upwards for the next few miles
and one fantastically steep section absolutely wiped me out. I actually slowed to a walk and then came to
a stand still. At mile 7 you have a water station and then another short hill
which I really didn’t welcome, especially as I watched the chap next to me
chowing down on a lovely energy gel. I of course didn’t have one!
Once up this hill it is a slow decent back into the village
and then a small climb through the village to finish on the sports field. I was
so glad to see the finish line that I nearly cried. Within seconds I was
absolutely buzzing about how good it all was and how I can’t wait to do it next
year. I am sure I must have a screw loose!
My enthusiasm was soon tempered by the
arrival of Angela - and a pretty
angry stare she gave me while asking me how I could think it wasn’t that hilly!
I did have to admit that the 10 mile
race is much harder than the 10k,
especially when you don’t prepare properly for it. Angela, of course, vowed never to do it again but, by September, I had tempted her back to Gosforth to try the 10k. I promised her that it is
definitely easier than Langdale and
much easier than the 10 mile route -
as far as I could remember that is!
The 10k
was also an evening run, so again we did a full day at work then set off with
my mum ensconced in the back of the car. We felt it was important that if we
suffered, we would at least have a witness again. So the three of us set off
for our second trot out to West Cumbria
of the summer, eager to lay the demons of the 10 mile race to rest.
Once on the M6 we
hit unbelievable torrential rain, (as I did last year), 
hail stones and
thunder and lightning. It was a bit hard to believe it was still only early September. It was obvious that we
suddenly had begun to, yet again, question our sanity. Why the hell were we
driving for hours in horrendous weather to run up and down hills for a little
medal? Then as we neared Gosforth
the weather came lovely, as it had for my trip up there last year and all was
well again with Team Colby.
The race itself was much less harsh than
the 10 mile torture we had endured in June
and, as always, everything was well organised and friendly. Not as friendly as
a Wesham race though! Angela and I both ran decent times and
I think she enjoyed it. I certainly did and really can’t wait for next year.
So if anyone fancies running in an absolutely gorgeous part
of the country and doesn’t mind a few ups and downs, then I am sure you would
love these races. They are held on summer evenings, so you would have to be
able to leave mid afternoon to get there and warm up. I promise it really is worth
it though. Both races are well priced and you get a medal, drink of juice and
some biscuits at the end. The scores are done immediately on a board near the
finish line, so you can see how you got on while stuffing your face with
custard creams before the drive home. It isn’t just me who does that is it?
Written by:
Charles Colby
Submitted: 28th
September 2010
Edited by: Brenda J
Earnshaw WRR Editor