Big Dipper

Race Reports

Why do some races sell out and others seem to stuggle to attract runners? I do not know the answer to this question and was suprised that were not more competitors for this years Upton Bishop 10k road race. 49 runners took part, including myself and Jo and Imee Marriot.

Maybe it is the name? I suppose it does imply there are some hills, and indeed there are, I don’t think there was a level stretch in the whole 10k, but there is nothing too steep about them and I would like to think that most runners would enjoy the challenge of powering up the hills to be rewarded with an almost immediate down hill recovery.

The start is just opposite Upton Bishop Village Hall and loops around the surrounding village lanes to end up back at the village hall for the finish. It was very well marshalled with lots of friendly, encouraging marshals and there was a water station just after the 5k mark.

Jo was pretty quickly out of site to me and is running on good form at the moment. She finished second lady in 49.50. I was somewhat further back, having my own personal race with a Spirit of Monmouth runner who I suspected was in my age group. She was just ahead of me most of the time and I did manage to pass her on the final uphill but she was definitely stronger than me on the downhill and I ended up finishing 30 seconds behind her – but I did see on the run britain results that this was a pb for her so like to think I helped! My final time was 54mins.

Imee was not feeling 100% before the race but still managed to finish in a very respectable time of 59 mins and helped us to win the ladies team prize. It’s been quite a while since I have come home with a trophy so good day for me!

The winner was Sam Matchette (U/A) in 35.35 and first female Joanne Eddy (U/A) 46.46.

This is such a nice race, everyone involved is very friendly, there was tea and cakes at the finish and a few free childrens races. We will have to see if we can give it a bit more of Croft support next year and try to get it the popularity it deserves.

 

1 thought on “Big Dipper

  1. It’s the big races with dinner plate gongs for finishers, £20+ entry fee that attract new runners. I always approach the new races at bargepole distance!

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