By Ben Shorer
Having seen this Easter Monday race billed as a ‘fun run’, I thought there might be 50 people and I might therefore have a good chance of me getting into the top 10. However, when I arrived I realised I was horrendously wrong! There were hundreds of runners, dozens of clubs and it looked like a really well organised and supported event.
I met up with a big group of Seaford Striders and we discussed how much food and drink we had consumed during the previous day’s festivities and how this was probably going to affect our runs. The weather was sunny and warm and the ground was nice and firm. People had said to me that in previous years there were several boggy sections to the course but that clearly wouldn’t be an issue today.
I spoke with Scott about the course, as I had no idea what was in store for me and he warned me that it was mainly off road and that it wasn’t really the course to go for a PB. Just before we started everyone wished each other good luck and moved on to the running track, ready for the starting pistol. As soon as we started everyone was jostling for position, trying to squeeze into a bit of space, before we went through the skinny little starting gate.
I went out far too fast and I knew pretty much immediately that I had made a big error, as we were taken through many different fields around Lewes and to me it seemed like a lot more ups than there were downs!
Half a mile before the end there is quite a nice downhill section, where you can try to make up time and then you return, back through the first gate and along the long last 200 metres of the track, to the finish line. Scott was there pushing me, trying to ensure I beat my PB (which I did!)
All the Striders posted fantastic times, especially Kristiane coming in 51:47, which she was really pleased with. The atmosphere was fantastic and it felt like a really fun family event, especially with all the children’s races before the main 10k. I’ll definitely do it again next year, but perhaps I’ll ease back on the food and drink from the day before (I say this now….)!
Results:
Josh Rudd: 38:29
Scott Hitchcock: 40:01
Ed Tuckley: 40:26
Ben Shorer: 47:24
Kristiane Sherry: 51:47
Claire and Dean Keith: 54:21
Stacy Bennett: 56:55
Trevor Jones: 1:02:23
Andy McDonald: 1:02:39
Edd Needham 1:10:08