Well, it was dark!! 😂
This was my first night race and the first time ever for this event so I really had to enter. As I’ve mentioned here before, my night vision is not good. I have astigmatism, and, at my last optician’s appointment, he told me that I have the beginnings of cataracts too, so why I was doing a night run I have no idea 🙄 But it seemed a good idea last September when I entered, and as I’m always keen to try different things with my running, here we were 😊
There was a 5K option and seven waves (over 700 runners) so there were runners milling around everywhere when I arrived and throughout. When I left there were still runners on the route, little orbs dancing in the dark and looking a bit surreal.
I’ve done loads of events with this organiser (Relish Running) and they are brilliant. The marshals are super-efficient and friendly, everything works like clock-work and the finish goodies are laid out like a sweet shop, tempting you with their wares. And of course, the blingy-bling!! Their bling is always fabulous needless to say. They now produce a jig-saw shaped medal for each race so that you can link them together. Neat, eh?
Anyway, to the race itself. There was a slight drizzle but it wasn’t windy and it wasn’t freezing. My race started at 630. I wore a head torch and the lights from the others were enough to give me a clear view of the ground. I thought that if I could stick close and follow others then I would be ok and have fairly good visibility. That was the plan.
To be honest I didn’t see much of the trees as I was always looking down and it was too dark to see any definition. In fact, I found it a bit disorientating after a while. I’ve run here numerous times and knew it well, where the tree roots protruded, where the paths narrowed, where the bumps were, but in the dark everything looked different and at times I had no idea where I was which I found a bit difficult.
The first lap of 5K was ok apart from a bump on a patch that I almost tripped over. “Oooh, that was close. I’ll have to remember that on the second lap.”
On the second lap, after about 6K I found myself alone. Others were far in front and far behind and so I had no extra light from runners nearby. My own head torch was hopeless and so I realised how dark it really was. I was approaching the bump that I missed on the first lap and remembered to lift my legs higher to avoid it. In fact it became a bit of a mantra and I said it out loud, “keep them up, keep them up…”
Phew! Managed to escape the bump and all was well.
Only a few more K’s to go (I couldn’t see my watch so I was counting) and I was on a path I recognised at last and had run many times before. Then, out of the blue, I stumbled and was on the ground 😱 “No no no” I cried out sweetly and quietly 😇 I fell on the same side, the same knee, the same elbow that I fell on last summer. It hurt. I have no idea what caused me to trip but there I was. I didn’t take time to stop the Garmin, there was nobody around to ask if I was ok, so I didn’t waste time thinking about it and got up and carried on. I mean, I’m getting really good at this falling thing!
I managed to finish and cross the finish line without further adventure but the funnels were a mud fest! Obviously, loads of feet had tread before me so it was a slippery, messy mud bath and that was where I was most aware that I could fall again 😮 But all was good as I picked up my fabulously coloured medal (a different design on each side), chocolate bar and water and made my way slowly towards the car. It was then I became aware that my right hand hurt, especially one finger. It must have got injured in the fall but I have no memory of how. I must have landed on it awkwardly.
It was too dark to see the time on my watch so I forgot about that until I got home.
After a shower I inspected the damage. Cuts in the knee and on the elbow and a very sore finger that I couldn’t bend. But hey ho, these are the wounds of a person who perhaps didn’t make the best decision to run at night 🤔
My results weren’t anything special for me and I managed just over 70 minutes, so not too shabby in the end. BUT, my Garmin showed a run of 9.94K and not the full 10K! If I’d seen that last night I would have run a bit further 😂
The knee and elbow are feeling much better today but I had to ask my husband to butter my toast for me this morning as my poor little finger is not too well ☹️ so no gardening or running for a few days.
Would I do another night run? No. I didn’t enjoy it and in places I could hardly see where I was going and just put one foot in front of the other and hoped for the best. Not the way I want to run.
However, this was a brilliantly organised race so if night races are your thing then I would highly recommend it, but it’s not for me. There is a day race today using the same route and that’s definitely more my thing. Surprise, surprise, I like to see where I’m going!
Puzzle for today. My base layer has a tear at the elbow but my jacket doesn’t. How does that work? 🤔
Wobble's 10k Race Report