This year, I decided to travel a bit further afield in order to get into a race with a more packed front end at a race that has a reputation for producing quick times.
This year the Brampton to Carlisle 10 incorporated the Northern Championships, which again drew me towards wanting to choose this race as it promises that there will be a quality field attracted.
The race itself was an 11:30 start, so a bit later than most, which was handy as it meant that I didn't have to get up too early for the journey! I was fortunate enough to be offered a lift to the venue from Simon Monk, as Joe had opted to choose this race too. This was one less thing for me to stress about before the race, so a big thanks to Simon for that! We got there in plenty of time and had a little walk around the village to stretch the legs before our warm ups. It was definitely cold out, but thankfully the conditions were pretty much perfect for running - no wind, clear skies and the sun eventually burnt through enough to make sure the roads were all thawed out in plenty of time.
The race sets off from a road just outside a high school in Brampton, and it is a point to point course which sees you travel 10 miles to...Carlisle - obviously! The course is apparently a net downhill, but it certainly isn't a case of setting off at the top of a hill and plummeting down the ten miles to Carlisle - but we will get to that soon enough.
The race is though a down hill start, which ensured that the pace was quick from the outset. It levels off after the first turn at about a quarter of a mile and the rest of the first mile is nice and flat, you hit a bit of a hill at around a mile and then have a nice long stretch of gradual down hill through to two miles, then the third mile is nice and flat too - again all condusive to a fast start to the race.
From the off, I found myself determined to stick with the front pack, but I have to admit that as I was fairly unknown as to what time I was targetting I was a little apprehensive as to whether the early pace was actually too fast for me. At around about this third mile, I had a look over my shoulder and saw a fairly big gap already to the pack behind. It made my mind up for me that whatever happened, I just had to try and stick in amongst this group for as much of the race as I could - otherwise I could be in for a long, hard slog on my own.
The front pack at this point was pretty huge - there were 10 of us that I could count in there, and I was pretty much right at the back of it, although it was a nice tight pack and not opening up at this stage.
We took a turn left off the bypass in the fourth mile and into more like country lanes for the next few miles of the race. I remained tucked neatly in the back half of the pack and started to grow in confidence and felt more comfortable with the pace. I don't know why, but when we hit the 5 mile mark I decided to make a move to the front of the pack and stretched my legs a bit. I was feeling fresh, strong and just wanted to prove it to myself. It was a bit of a surge, but didn't take up too much energy as I didn't increase my pace too much. Marc Brown and James Douglas soon joined me again and the others followed too, at the 6 mile mark I dropped back into the pack again and rode off the back of the others for a stretch. The pack was down to 8 now, which still seemed huge for the halfway stage!
I never look at my watch during a race, and thankfully I didn't do through 10k in this one, as Marc has since told me we went through in 30:55, which would have given me palpitations if I'd have known!
By mile 7 a few had dropped off and the pack had become four strong - myself, Marc, James Douglas and a runner from Morpeth. I had been warned that the course started to get a bit tougher from around this point and that there would be a fair bit of climbing in the last 3 miles. I felt strong, but also wary in case the pace suddenly began to take its toll, or in case anyone decided to start stretching it out from distance.
The first big climb came towards the 8 mile mark, and before you hit it it looked massive and I was dreading it...as it was I still felt great attacking it and knew at this stage that I still had enough in the tank to last out the final two miles at this intensity. Me, Marc and James were all taking turns at the front through miles 7 and 8 and the time seemed to fly as a result, before I knew it we had hit the 9 mile mark as we entered Caslisle itself and I found myself back at the front as we approached what I guessed would be the final climb. I decided that I had to take a risk now and run it in hard from here on in. I had come this far, so might as well give it everything to try and win it now...I got to the top of the climb, around a bend, and then thankfully saw a nice downhill stretch to the finish. I just threw myself down it and around one final corner and over the line to take the win.
This is by far my biggest race win to date as it is one with a rich history, and I was stunned by it in all honesty as I knew I was in and amongst some seriously quality runners. My time shocked me even more - clocking 50:06 for a huge new best for the distance.
It is a fantastic race and hopefully it can attract an even bigger front end next year, I will certainly be returning to try and go faster still if I can.
My attentions now turn to the Telford 10k in three weeks time and I just hope that I can now hold my form and replicate this performance there to try and end the year on an even bigger high.
Week one stats:
Total mileage for the week: 75.5
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:22
Total mileage so far this month (November): 120
Total mileage for 2017: 3139
Average miles per day 2017: 9.97
Week Two
Total mileage for the week: 63.5
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:27
Total mileage so far this month (November): 183.5
Total mileage for 2017: 3202.5
Average miles per day 2017: 9.95
