From Adam Gerrish…
The sun was shining and Keighley 10k offered entry on the day so I thought I’d turn up and give it a go. The race description said that it was a multi-terrain course with “tough bits”, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. There were plenty of hills and bends. There were no road closures so you did have to avoid traffic at times, with the help of the marshals.
At the half way point you suddenly joined runners who had entered the 5k version of the race. This made it quite difficult to snake past people walking and jogging down some narrow lanes.
Despite the challenges there were good results for the Harriers with Rob and David battling it out for 4th and 5th place respectively.
From Dave Foyston…
After a hard week of racing and training, I couldn’t resist a late entry into the beautiful Keighley 10k – my legs were tired, but okay and what a sight to behold this race had in store.
The race is organised by Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice with profits going to the hospice for such a good cause.
So, on a beautiful sunny morning in Keighley with near-perfect weather conditions, 508 runners got ready to race.
I thought I was going to be the only Harrier racing but was joined by my good running friend Rob Cunningham from team IH, and also Adam Gerrish who entered on the day so we had a team of three.
So the race got underway I have never run this race before but it was a race to top all 10k races I have entered, we started off at Keighley leisure centre and navigated towards the train station before taking a sharp left onto some cobbles before racing through a builder’s yard (this was a first in a 10k race).
As we exited the yard, it became apparent that the front six were now separated from the main pack, and we were in for a good race!
For the first 5k, the race was tight. I was in sixth place with teammate Rob in fifth; the next four runners were slightly ahead but in sight. The first 5k was very hard and undulating with tight turns with leg-zapping hills. I was becoming more aware that this was more a trail race rather than a road race as we navigated through Bracken Bank allotments. Here runners got to take in the beautiful wildlife Keighley had to offer and runners were now joined by the 5k race which set off from this location just to add a bit of spice to the event.
At this point, I couldn’t help but regret my parkrun from the day before.
As we reached Cliffe Castle Park with yet another hill to contend with Rob made a break for it, and passed the young lad in fourth with myself following on Rob’s heels.
The last 2km were downhill and on the flat, as we approached the finish line Rob was just ahead of me and finished in fourth with me grabbing fifth and winning the MV40 Cat.
How we both finished with a quicker time than Dewsbury is baffling – this was not an easy 10k.
This was my first time running Keighley 10K this is definitely a multi-terrain event with character.
I will be back next year as there was something quirky and addictive about this one!