“So, the Labyrinth is a piece of cake, is it? Well, let’s see how you deal with this little slice…”

Jareth, Labyrinth

Now that pesky Marathon is out the way, it’s time to get back to racing. Well, I don’t really have a choice. I’d forgotten I’d signed up to a 10k race just two weeks later. Why am I so stoopid, to quote the brilliant Sifan Hassan.

This is also a 10k race with a mile climb in it. That you do twice. However, it is a hill I know well, as I grew up at the top of it. My youth was spent, walking, cycling, running, and drunkenly staggering up it. The latter when I was bit older, obviously. Therefore, I like to think I have the ‘muscle memory’ advantage. I tell myself that, anyway.

When I was a kid, I used to watch this race every year. I would sit on the wall outside my house and clap the runners as they passed. I always said that one day I would do it. It took a couple of decades, but eventually I did.

I know, that sounds like a proper shit film. And it would be. At least if we got Michael Bay to direct, it might have some ridiculous explosions in it. What am I even talking about. Who knows.

Back to the Cookson, post-Marathon I’ve been ok. My left hip has been a little sore, but not when running and not to the point where I’m in any real pain. I’m just aware of it.

My biggest problem has been the need to retrain myself to run fast. Or untrain my Marathon pace. And I have 2 and a half weeks to do it.

Someone at the club has told me though, having gained a tremendous level of fitness from the training blocks, I should be hammering out belter 10ks. I’m not convinced.

I want to try and match or better my Cookson time from last year, which will require a 7:58 pace. On my runs leading up to here, I’ve been nowhere near that. However, in a race situation with others, it’s amazing what you can pull out the bag. Or so I hope. As a precaution, I spend the 48 hours leading up to the race shouting ‘faster you bastards’ at my legs. That should do it.

The great thing about this race is that the Start and Finish are less than a mile from my house. So I really have no excuse. I’m allegedly at the top of my running fitness game, with no ball ache logistics getting there and back. Basically, I have no excuses if I’m shit.

Just taking a look at the course, it’s 2 laps of the below. As I mentioned earlier, from the green dot to the roundabout just before the 7 is the hill. What goes up, must come down though, so from just before the 8 to back to the start is downhill. So, two long climbs, two long drops.

Last year, my build up wasn’t exactly ‘elite’ standard. I was in Greece on a family holiday, only landing 4 hours before the start time. My hydration and pre race diet wasn’t great either. I think I sweated out about 20 gallons of Mythos. Despite all of that, I got a PB. No, me neither.

As tempting as it was to prepare for this year in a similar fashion, downing copious amounts of Mediterranean Larger on the days leading up to it isn’t really recommended. It’s not big, and it’s not clever. It is fun though.

After an attempt at the weekend to do 10 miles at a faster pace, I follow this up with an easy 5 on the Monday. Then on the Tuesday, I skip the Club session and have a rest day. Look at me, what a pro.

So to Race night, and it’s not a bad evening for a run, 11c and sunny. There has been a manky coldish wind kicking about for a few days. As usual, it’s coming in off the sea, but in this instance that’s a good thing, as it will be behind us on the climbs.

The aforementioned start (and finish) is at a local school. As I half arsedly walk towards it, it’s the usual pre-race scenes I’ve grown accustomed to. Pockets of beasts doing shuttle runs, sprints, slow jogs, whatever their poison is. This used to intimidate me. Now I’m tired just watching them.

I dump my stuff in the school and have a good old chin wag with some of my fellow club runners. I’m still drinking off the glory of my Marathon exploits, in that I’m still being asked about it, so it’s nice to continue boring people with it nearly 3 weeks later.

After a few minutes of holding court, we head down to the starting corral. This isn’t a massive race, 500 places with only about 400 of those usually turning out. Due to us starting on a pedestrian path though, it can feel quite congested at the start.

Some quick words from the Race Director (basically, be careful now) and away we go. As soon as we start, we hit a sharpish right turn. This bit is always a little chaotic. I marshalled this point one year and thought I was going to die. Death by a thousand Vaporflys, trampling over my head.

I feel great once we start. Perhaps too good, as I notice I’m doing sub 7 min mile pace. Whoa there. I slow down, but not too much, seeming to settle on around a 7:40 pace for this first mile up the hill.

Still, that’s quite quick for me on a 10k. Once at the top we pass my childhood home, and I give the aforementioned gate post I used to sit on and watch this race a slap as I pass it. They’ll stick that in the movie.

It’s a quick right into the Lonnen. This is another trip down memory lane. The Lonnen is basically an old short country road that connected two villages. It was at the end of my road, so I used to play down it as a kid a lot.

Not only that, it’s also where I started my running journey. It’s a quiet road most of the time, and as it winds round fields, it’s sort of like being in the countryside, even though you’re not. So perfect for running. Sadly, it’s also doomed. 5,000 houses are about to go up around it. Progress eh?

Nostalgia aside, it also marks the point that we’re going to be heading down hill for a mile or so. It’s a lovely early summer evening, and flying down through the fields with the sun starting to set will never get boring. It’s nights like tonight why I run.

As I head round to complete Lap 1, I’m aware that this is going quite well. I feel quite strong and my pace is in for a Cookson and 10k PB. However, Lap 2 of this is always the tester. You’ve just done a quick 5k, can you climb for a mile?

I said at the start of this review that I had the advantage of muscle memory when it came to this hill. Well, it’s time to test that theory. I attack it from the off and feel great. I’m passing people who are huffing and puffing on the way up, turning to them as I pass and shout ‘WHAT YOU GOT?’ That last bit may be a lie. However, I know that these people will shoot past me on the flat and downhill. That’s life. For now, I’ll have my moment on the hill.

I’m maintaining pace once I hit the flat and still feel strong. This is going great and, whatever happens now, this is going to be a really enjoyable run. One of those where you’re not fighting to keep going, you feel loose and fast, but I’m also not arsed about what everyone else is doing. If people are passing me on these closing stages, I’m not even noticing to be honest.

I cross the line in 46:32, with a pace of 7:25. It’s a 10k PB, 4 minutes faster than last year. I’m given an official time of 46:30, finishing in a respectable middle of the pack 182nd. Not a bad nights work.

As the course itself is just over 6.2 miles, my official 10k PB pings up as 46:10. If I never run a quicker 10k in my life, I’ll be absolutely fine with that. This is my ‘home’ course, so if this is the one my PB will always stand against, it would be quite profound. If you believe in that kind of shite.

Because of all the above, it’s fair to say I’m delighted with this run. When races come together like this, weather, pace, body, mind and enjoyment, you embrace them.

Next up, the iconic Blaydon Race in June. Hopefully, I bottle whatever I’ve got at the minute and take it with me. Especially if it’s a bottle of EPO. I’m kidding again. I have no idea where to buy it.

The fact is, I’m having fun with my running at the moment, and isn’t that really what it should all be about?