Leeds 10K Race Day

It's just a few hours after the Leeds 10K. The fact that I am writing this confirms that I did not have to make use of the excellent medical facilities provided by Leeds City Council.

The whole organisation was excellent. Car parking was clear. We did manage to forget to take the car keys with us when we left the car (busy focusing on making sure I had taken on enough fluids and had my race number on the right way up) but a very honest local handed them in.

So we walked the short distance from the car park to the holding area for runners. Andrea took my bag and waved me off as I wandered wide eyed into the square full of almost 10,000 people. Before I could get my bearings the announcement came that Richard Hill was about to come on stage to do the mass warm up. Richard was announced in a way that suggested I should have heard of him. As Richard and his supporting cast arrived on stage I realised that I had never heard of him but I was apparently about to do everything he told me to do.

What followed was nothing short of brilliant. 9999 people all waved their arms, jumped up and down, bent, stretched and danced in total unison. I however, did not. I jumped up and down, bent, stretched and danced in total unison with only myself. Fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye and by the end I was shattered. The thought of running 6 miles following this fifteen minutes of random flailing was exhausting.

The next announcement was to make sure we all went to the start line in the right order. Fifty minuters first, then sixty minuters etc. I filed in at the back of the joggers but ahead of the walkers. On the whole it wasn't difficult to tell where I should stand. The faster, skinny runners went first, followed by the medium sized runners and then the larger types.

As we all shuffled towards the start, I began to look around for my target. Which of the fancy dress runners did I not want to be beaten by? Initially I spotted Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider Man, even Banana Man. Only a fool would pick Superheroes to race against so I decided to let these go. The two old men in drag seemed a little too easy as did the Sumo Wrestlers. Finally, through the crowd I spotted the Cave People. Three Cave Girls and a Cave Man carrying a club. They looked like they could run, but I felt I had a chance of beating them. After all, I am about 10,000 years ahead in evolutionary terms.

The first 2 kilometres went well. I bounced along with the crowd at a steady pace. I only stopped running for a few moments as I was hit in the face by one of the balloon people. The first hill came just after 2k and I began to slow. I was keeping up with the Cave People. Occasionally they would pass me but then I would surge passed them. This continued until the big hill at 4 kilometres. This was into the wind and the wind was gusting up to 60mph. I had to walk this and the Cave People were out of sight.

The next 2 kilometres were uneventful and difficult. Now that my target was lost I scratched around for another fancy dresser to focus on. There were a couple of options, a man in a silk robe and a couple of ladies with large hats, but I couldn't get away from the fact that I had chosen the Cave People and they were now gone.

The Gatorade station just after half way was welcome. It was marked by a giant inflatable Gatorade bottle which loomed like a great orange beacon of hope over the turning point in the course.

It turns out, Gatorade is an orangy, sweet drink full of useful carbohydrates. It was served in paper cups and thousands of these were then discarded over the next 300 metres. So, as welcome as the Gatorade was, sticking to the road for the next 300 metres was not! It was here that my right knee began to feel a bit sore.

Maybe this was a warning sign?

What followed was probably the best, most uplifting thing I could have seen. The queue for the toilets. The five porta loos were obviously not sufficient to serve all 11,000 runners and so those who needed to avail themselves of the facility had to stand in line. And in this line were four Cave People.

Ahead of the Cave People again I began to focus on the final three kilometres. My right knee was beginning to feel like it was full of broken glass every time I landed on it but I was on the final stretch.

Up until this point all of the spectators had been clapping politely and shouting encouragements such as "come on, you can do it" or "not far now". I am not going to criticise these platitudes as all of these people have taken time out of their weekend to stand and cheer. What followed next was possibly the greatest piece of spectating I had ever seen. Sat on the steps of one of Leeds' various office buildings were three drunks. It was 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning and they looked like they were spending their morning the same way as they spend every morning. Each of them had a can of special brew and they were making accurate if not a little harsh observations on the events unfolding in front of them. As I passed, the older of the three shouted, "You look knackered!"

The final kilometre arrived and I began to speed up for the big finish. At this point one of the Cave People came passed. I couldn't believe it, they had caught me. Imagine my delight as I realised that she was alone. She would have to wait for the other three so victory was assured. As I crossed the line I heard the commentator say, "..and here come the Cave Men and Women..." they weren't ahead of me so they must have been behind - success!

One hour twenty one minutes 35 seconds. Only one minute slower than the time I expected (not bad in 60mph winds) and I could still walk............. Back to training next week.