Morpeth 10K – AKA The fly in the eye
05/08/2014 – Morpeth 10K marked my first ever road race. I parked in the event car park and got changed (which, if you’ve ever tried wriggling into running gear in the front seat of a car, you’ll know is a sport in itself).
After a short walk to Race HQ, I had my number and entry sorted. Being new to all this, I couldn’t understand why people were already running before the race. “Wasting energy,” I thought. Instead, I stood around doing some dynamic stretches while they were off doing warm-up laps.
The race started – and I learned quickly just how different running in a crowd feels. You get pulled into the pace, weaving through people, bumping feet, trying not to trip. It was exactly the chaotic trial run I needed before the Great North Run.
Everything was going well for the first five miles… until I caught a fly in my eye. Classic. Suddenly it wasn’t just me against the clock – I was blinking like mad, half-wincing, and doing a sort of one-eyed shuffle while trying not to collide with anyone. I pushed through, knowing I could deal with it at the finish line – and thankfully, someone with a first aid kit was waiting at the end.
As a newcomer, I was fully expecting to be last – maybe even get one of those awkward slow claps as I crossed the line. But I wasn’t. In fact, I felt stronger than expected. I even thought, I could’ve pushed harder.
There was a bit of a delay with the timing system, so no instant results. But there was hot food at Race HQ, which helped distract me from obsessively checking the results website like a man possessed.
When the results finally dropped: – http://www.ukresults.net/2014/morpeth10k.html
🏁 263rd out of 302
⏱ 53 minutes 53 seconds
Not bad for a first crack at it — and a massive confidence boost just weeks before my big goal race.
Participation mug next to a well-earned pint — the real finishers’ photo.