Well, a few of us turned up for this not so local summer series. I was certainly moaning a bit but I needed the points!
The event was fairly popular with 287 odd (some very odd) runners….well have you been to Blackpool recently?
The beach was windswept. With no route map, Mike reckoned “we just run to the far pier and back” how wrong he was. The start was delayed as the strong onshore wind meant part of the course was still underwater and they hadn’t finished marking the course! We debated what shoes to wear, a mixture of fell shoes, trial shoes and road shoes were all tried, someone suggested we might need flippers!
Off we went. The sand was firm at first and we all took advantage of the following wind. Those at the front had the advantage of virgin sand and the lead car tyre tracks. Mike’s far pier was passed after only 7 minutes. The course started to meander a bit, well how else do you make a 10K beach race interesting!
Actually the race started to feel more like a cross country course, I was enjoying it. We started to pass through a lot of streams, puddles and wet sand. It was still runnable but where is the half way point? The lead car now a distant flashing amber light just kept going, on and on and on. Not a member of public in sight.
Finally halfway, turned to come back bang, straight in to a head wind. This was tough. The sand seemed to be getting softer or was that my legs, the puddles deeper or was that my legs, the return journey longer, or was that my legs. As we passed under the piers again, new challenges awaited us. 3 year olds and donkeys!
The 3 year olds and their sand castles required deft footwork but the donkeys had now churned the firm sand in to leg sapping mush. Finally the finish line appeared with much relief.
It was different!
4, Michael Halman, 37:04
5, Graham Taylor, 1st MV40, 37:37
9, Stuart Parrott, MV40, 39:04
20, Tony Hulme, MV55, 41:14
47, Kate Ayres, 1st FV45, 44:29
137, Amanda Hynes, 51:12
195, Ron Reed, MV75, 57:04
201, Ken Smart, MV65, 58:16
Graham