The Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days . . . well it is through my marathon tainted glasses.
It was just absolutely great to be back up at Brathay Hall yesterday for the final day of this year’s 10 in 10 and to run one lap round the lake with 772 other marathon runners. I love being in the Lake District but Brathay is so very special. It brought back so many wonderful memories from last year. All the memories and emotions from last years 10in10 came flooding back, both the high points and the low ones.
It was lovely to see the people from Brathay again especially, Aly & Mac who looked after us so well last year. It was also great to see some of last years TiTs who had also returned especially room mate Howard and to my surprise Andy.
Before the race I couldn’t make my mind up whether to go for a good time or just take it easy and enjoy the day. When the race actually started I still hadn’t made my mind up. I started the run with 3 friends from the 100 club, Kevin, Gary and Paul, all good runners and our pace started of good. After a couple of miles we bumped into Hull John and that was it, I was cruising at a very good pace. I decided to keep it going and see what I could do. The weather was very warm and sunny so I kept taking on water to make sure I didn’t dehydrate and pushed on. As the race progressed I ended up leaving all my friends behind and zoomed home in 3 hours 17 minutes 51 seconds, a course record for me. I think the early help from friends coupled with the good weather and the lovely venue helped spur me to this great time, my fastest in over 2 years.
