So a race morning when you over sleep by half an hour is not a good start. Nor is not being able to find your favourite running bra. At least the rush meant I couldn’t dwell for too long on the race ahead.
It was the morning of The Slaughterford 9 – a race that I swore I would never do again after I last ran it 3 years ago. The race that contributed to an injury that led to me missing 5 weeks of training for my first marathon in London 2012. Nevertheless I thought it was time to give it another go, not least because the morning saw the area covered in freezing fog so I never got to see the views from the top of the huge climbs.
The runners and marshals were as friendly as you’d expect from a small race, and my jazzy socks got plenty of complimentary remarks.
The hills were as steep as I remembered. However the mud wasn’t as bad, and was nowhere near as bad as at last week’s race (Bath Skyline 10K #3).
The stream we have to wade up in the last mile wasn’t as cold as I remembered – I could actually feel my feet as I climbed up the hill on the otherside. The steam WAS deeper though, stepping down into knee deep muddy water is a challenge. Wading along the uneven bottom when you can’t see where to best put your feet is more of a challenge, and how they made it go deeper as you went along is a secret only a sadist would know. The cold water reached my shins, knees, thighs and just as it hit gusset-level I heard a cry of “oo my undercarriage” from up ahead, which made me laugh.
The final steep hill was as much a killer as ever, and then it was the final slope to the finish line. I originally ran this race in 2012 because I’d had massive race t-shirt envy. Seeing as I got paint on my original shirt I was looking forward to getting a new one. Imagine my face when I saw that this year’s t-shirt was pink.
Regular readers will know exactly how I feel about the colour pink, as did the man I was running next to when I spotted the colour (apologies to him for my language).
It had been great to see Mr. B&T pop up around the course three times to cheer me on and take attractive photos, but it was a close run thing as to whether I was more pleased to see him at the finish, or the Mars bar I was handed.
After a cold nearly-a-mile walk back to the car, I was most pleased to see his car with it’s heated seats. Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood wouldn’t approve, but I can highly recommend heated seats on a soggy bottom.
Bahahahahhaa! PINK PINK PINK!!!!!
I KNOW! Just realised it means I’ll have to run it again next year to try and get a better colour. Maybe I can get a wetsuit before then …
The photo of that hill made my legs ache! Well done. Stick the pink top in a hot wash with somes jeans!
It’s a rare photo that actually looks as steep as it was. Not a bad idea about the t-shirt – I was thinking of trying todye it. Might manage to make it a bit more purple than school blancmange pink.
Yikes .. there’s pink and then there’s ‘that’ pink. At least the t-shirts I get from my Tring 10ml race are a slightly more tasteful shade of day-glo yellow or orange. As you suggested, probably designed to make you go “Ugh..” and vow to return next year to get a t-shirt that is a decent colour 🙂
Sadly, it will probably work for me at least! Still wondering if I can dye it to even take the edge off the colour …
I see what you mean about the blancmange!
Spitting image!