From Petra Bijsterveld…
Photo credit: Jonathan Turner
19 Harriers lined up, with almost 700 other runners, on the start line of the fourth edition of the Rudding Parkrace, a mixed terrain 10k (well, 10.5k actually) race through the beautiful grounds of Rudding Park near Harrogate.
The race has become well-known for its generous goody bags, excellent winners’ prizes, and opportunity for sociable gathering with free food and drink after the race.
Ilkley had a good night with Tom Adams and Oli Murphy taking first and second place in just over 34 minutes, only separated by 12 seconds. Jonathan Turner was the next Harrier home in 44:54 which made him 1st M55, but sadly for him prizes were only awarded in 10 year categories. Jane McCarthy was fifth lady overall and prize winning 1st F50 in 45:34. The other category but not prize winner was Rebecca Mon-Williams who was 1st F55 in 53:09.
Personally I found the race harder than I had expected. Lack of recent race experience at this distance left me a bit underprepared. Moreover I had not done enough homework and expected a rather undulating course I could jog along in some semi-serious fashion; instead there was a downhill start which sucked me into going out too fast, and then it was largely flat (or worse even, false flat) until the uphill finish. The flattish running was an invitation to keep going as hard as possible, and I had forgotten how painful that is over 10k. This was a salutary reminder!
Still, it was a nice opportunity to catch up with other Harriers on a nice sunny evening, and I would recommend this race to anyone who has not tried it yet. It does fill up very quickly once entries open so you have to be quick!