The Wednesday night tradition of competing in (and reporting on) less well known English rural midweek races continues with this week's offering, the Laxton 10k. In truth, although I managed an hour with the lads on Monday night, my quads have been giving me serious jip since Coniston on Sunday. My legs feel they've spent the weekend with a man in a mask and his mates from the inquisition. Nobody expects ..... I was ready to confess to anything! By lunchtime today I'd had just about enough of them so there was only one thing to do. Take 2 ibruprofen and find a flat race to run off the stiffness. Ok, that's two things, Two things to do then. Finishing work at 5pm, Laxton was about an hour away and just off the M62 so it didn't take too long to find. It had been well advertised on the UKResults site and the hook was 'fast and flat; a course with PB potential'.
Arriving in the village I wondered what Laxton was famous for. I noted that they 'welcome careful drivers'. That's good. And another thing. They have a railway station; although it goes by the name of Saltmarshe. Cryptic. I paid my £8 at the village hall and mosied up to the start line mixing with runners from Goole, Hull, a few from Selby, York and Doncaster. I had a brief chat with a Marske runner. She was hopeful of a good time. Weren't we all?
We gathered at the start and were offski in a jiffy. For the first mile I was taking baby steps trying to get the quads to behave responsibly and by the two mile mark I'd finally started to run like an adult. At 3 miles I took a photo and some bloke who had latched on behind asked 'if it was for evidence?' to which I replied that I was on my holidays. In Laxton? At least that answer kept him quiet for the remainder of the race. 
I went through 3 miles in 18:10 and by 5 miles was giving myself the 'it's just a training run' routine, meaning that I was tired and trying to find a cop-out. But I kept on and at 6 miles and nearing the finish I was passed by a Killamarsh runner and managed to find some energy to tuck in behind him. This unlikely tandem managed to pass two runners before the end. 38:25. Not the fastest but after Sunday, not as bad as I thought.
Stopping briefly for a cuppa and sausage sarnie in the village hall, I asked the helpers what Laxton was famous for. The answer...the run of course. Goodie bag, nice course and relaxed atmosphere meant this race is a winner.
I went through 3 miles in 18:10 and by 5 miles was giving myself the 'it's just a training run' routine, meaning that I was tired and trying to find a cop-out. But I kept on and at 6 miles and nearing the finish I was passed by a Killamarsh runner and managed to find some energy to tuck in behind him. This unlikely tandem managed to pass two runners before the end. 38:25. Not the fastest but after Sunday, not as bad as I thought.
Stopping briefly for a cuppa and sausage sarnie in the village hall, I asked the helpers what Laxton was famous for. The answer...the run of course. Goodie bag, nice course and relaxed atmosphere meant this race is a winner.
No comments:
Post a Comment