We arrived in the New Forest a little later than planned, and the queue for the car park was long and slow. So when UpTheStanley finally got directed to his parking area, I jumped out of the car and headed off to pick up our bibs and T-shirts. Then it was straight to the loo queues. As I was chatting to a lady next to me, I heard my name being called, and saw Mudita11 was a few places behind me. So we had a quick hello, before I disappeared into the building.
We both fixed our bibs on our shirts, dropped our bags under a tree, and then headed to the race start. UTS went looking for his 55 min pacemaker and I found a place in the 1hour + zone. I completed my warm up exercises in the queue, while organisers were still asking runners to go to the start.
As it happened, the start was delayed to allow for late arrivals and I didn’t cross the start line until 9:07. I started the NRC 10k Race guided run, and my watch, and ran. The route goes through Exbury village and along country lanes to the coast road with beautiful views of the Isle of Wight. Like Mudita, I waved at aliboo70 . The cloudy cool day forecast didn’t quite happen; it was bright sunshine and hot, although not as bad as last year’s 25°C. This year’s weather hadn’t given us chance to get used to running in the sun again, and thankfully I had put sun tan lotion on. Local residents were cheering us on at their garden gates and one had a sprinkler going, which was lovely.
The first 5k was slightly downhill and I was doing well. The trees were affecting the GPS though so I couldn’t trust the data on my watch. At around 4k I saw UTS coming in the opposite direction and called out to him, and about 600m later Mudita followed and we waved. What goes down must go up, so after the turning point I headed on an upward route towards the welcomed water station.
There was more evidence of run/walking now, and with the sun being higher, less shadows to hide under. In my 7th km I ran alongside another lady and we were chatting about how hot it was last year and we both agreed that it would be great to beat that finish time today. Famous last words! I was running in the middle of the road and hadn’t noticed that the road surface had cracked and was on two different levels. I then twisted my left ankle and was hopping on my right foot in pain. I told her to carry on as I didn’t want her to feel she had to stop. I gingerly walked slowly up the hill, thinking I was going to have to seek assistance at the next marshal . But as time moved on I felt that it wasn’t as bad and think I had walked it back to normal. I didn’t want a DNF , and although I knew any chance of a PB was gone I attempted to jog slowly. I then ran/walked the rest of the course, running down slopes and walking in the sun uphill. I hadn’t heard from Coach Bennett for ages and when I got my phone out he started talking about the 8th km, even though I was well beyond that. He was talking about how you should forget the distance on your watch because GPS can be flukey and you should race to the actual line. At this point I had entered the Gardens and could hear the announcements over the tannoy. Those waiting for their friends and relatives cheered everyone on. So I stepped into a run again, my ankle didn’t hurt at all now, so I stepped it up again as UTS came into vision. There were a few people ahead of me so I stepped it up some more and managed to overtake them with a sprint finish .
So I had a great first 5k, a not so good second half, then a triumphant finish.
I was totally whacked and grateful for Jaffa cakes, water, banana and medal. A text came through- UTS 54:34 and me 1:17:00. I did beat last year’s 1:21:04. But I know that I can do so much better. We might have to enter again next year 😂
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to catch up with Mudita but I’m sure we’ll see her soon.
A picnic in the gardens followed then I lay in the shade of a tree for a while. The very bright neon orange T-shirt and medal depicts azaleas as Exbury Gardens holds the national collection, and although the season is over, I did manage to find one in flower.
Written by
Dexy5
10 Miles
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ha! Fun to hear about your run in a place I know so well of old! Well done, in spite of the ankle incident. I am in Dorchester now - not running but wonderful long walks with a sneaky jog or two on the gentle down-slopes. Greetings and happy running to both you & UTS.
Thank you Granspeed , how lovely to hear from you. And you have moved to an area I know so well, having grown up not so far away. I remember our visits to Dorchester Market on a Wednesday. You are surrounded by beautiful places to walk, and are still not far away from the sea. I hope you will be very happy in your new home.
Thank you! I am loving the whole area and feeling very “at home” here, even though it has the fun of being new. The market still flourishes on a Wednesday and the town is apparently full of super-friendly people. I am doing yoga & Pilates as I recover from moving, so running may yet rear its head…. Happy running to you!
Oh no Dexy, that was a close call. Hopefully the ankle is feeling OK now? You should be really chuffed to beat last year's time so comprehensively.
I'd really love to do this one - I just need to remember to book before it sells out! Mind you, there's a lot of talk of hills between you and Mudita ... 🤔
Yes, my niece is on the injury couch having sprained her ankle at parkrun and I thought I was joining her. Funnily enough it is the instep of the other foot that is niggling, not sure what happened there. 77 mins is a training pace 10k for me, and I only managed to achieve that as the 1st 5k was done in 34:40. The elevation was not steep but long and gradual. UTS said it wasn’t as bad as he remembered. 😂
I will try and remind you next year as numbers are limited.
Great report Dexy. I prefer this year’s medal and t-shirt. That was scary about your ankle . Thank goodness it sorted itself out! Congratulations on yours and UTS’s times 👌🏻. See you soon x
Great run report Dexy5 - well done to both you and UpTheStanley ! 👏🙂🏅🏅You’re right about the weather - I think we are still getting used to higher temperatures after a cool couple of months.
You had me worried about your ankle for a moment there, so really glad to read that it seems to be okay now.🤞 Very respectable time too considering you had to take those walk breaks - you definitely have a faster one in you on this course I reckon. Like you say…next year?!🙂
Thanks Sandra. I only realised this morning that in our rush yesterday, we forgot to write our emergency details on the back of our bibs! That could have been awkward ……
oh Dexy that sounds like an exciting outing. Sorry you twisted your ankle but glad to hear you still managed to get to the end, I hope you have not had any ill effects and are still sound. Well done on the PB too.
Thanks Shakes. Yes it was a bit scary at the time, but thank goodness I didn’t sprain it. A PB for Exbury but London Vitality was my best - it’s flat 😂
That was a close call Dexy5; the injury could have been so much worse. But; you did what we do. You gritted your teeth and finished the job. Time is irrelevant at that point; completing the run is the only goal, and you managed it with a finishing flourish.
I hope it feels ok in the morning; lots of running to do…..🙂
I was lucky BC. I certainly wouldn’t have risked running again if the walking hadn’t got easier. We had some ice blocks with picnic so I used one on my ankle just in case. We went for a walk today just to get everything moving again.
Funny thing was Coach B said “look ahead, don’t look at the ground” He was wrong in this case. 😂
So good your ankle let you carry on Dexy5, what a lovely place to run too and a triumphant finish is what we aim for so you won the day, picnic and rest under the shade of a tree just perfect
I’m so pleased to see that your ankle turn didn't stop you finishing and getting an improvement on last year too! Great job 👍
That does sound such a lovely run and the bling and t-shirt are gorgeous so no wonder you did this one again. I wonder what the “colours” will be next year?
I first met cheekychipmunks in the loo queue too in Bristol so perhaps that needs to be the new “meeting place” for VRBs 🤣
What a brilliant run despite the ankle incident. To take 4 minutes off last year's time is great going...especially on a 10k 👏👏👏👏 congratulations to UpTheStanley on a really superb time.
It has to be said that I was walking a lot last year in the heat so it was the slowest 10k race time I’d done. Maybe next year it will be cloudy and I can knock some more time off. 😂
What a race of differences! I'm very glad your ankle stopped hurting and you could finish well. Great times from both of you - congratulations and I bet the azaleas are incredible when in bloom!
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