TeesPride 10k 2011

My first thoughts following the start of the TeesPride 10k race was what a good job the regeneration folk had made of the area. Having spent more than my fair share of 1981 working in Teesside before going back up north to the land of the silvery Tay, it was a pretty grubby place. It was a place where Maggie had had her 'walk in the wilderness', strolling around the post apocalyptic landscape with her handbag ruined by heavy industry (not the handbag that is!). But enough history already.

I was thinking at 2k 'this feels a bit quick' as I sat in a group which included a Chester Le Street runner who I'd seen before but couldn't place. And, of course, it was. The other thing that crossed my mind was that this wasn't the course I'd looked at on the website. Which, of course, it wasn't.

There was a strong easterly wind blowing and I tucked in behind a couple of runners to take shelter. The course consisted of 2 flat laps run around both banks of the Tees and while the north bank was one long straight with a helpful tailwind, the return along the south bank was in and out of cuttings made along the bankside where new buildings, some belonging to Durham University Campus, had sprouted up. The copious weaving left and right was partly compensated by the shelter afforded by the bricks, trees and street furniture from the headwind.

Having been dispatched from the group at the 4k mark for being 'too slow and generally useless', I spent most of the second half of the race on my todd catching the one runner ahead who looked like he was flagging. I kept reminding myself I was an endurance athlete, just not a very fast one at the moment. There were a few bikes to dodge and I was aware of being chased by the 200 runners behind me. Before I knew it I was approaching the finishing line. A sprint wasn't required as I hadn't caught sight of any looming shadows over my shoulder. I peered over the judges clipboard as a plodded across the line to see I'd finished in around 20th in 38:15. I was given a t-shirt and water for my trouble and wandered back to see the photographer and young 'uns finishing. Nice day out and friendly crowd. Photographs on the Flickr site.

It turned out that the course had been changed from a one lapper to a two lapper. No wonder I'm confused. I bet my drinks bottle is still on Newport Bridge. Results probably on the Billingham Marsh and Tees Barrage websites.