Gawsworth 10k Race Report

Race report by Liz Goodall, RBS Invoice Finance:

I learnt 3 very valuable lessons from the Gawsworth 10k

1. Never ask a Fell Runner (Dave James) how hilly a run is going to be – those Fell runner types have very different views on hills to the rest of us.

2. Sort out where you are going to carry your iPhone before you start – shoving it in the waist band of your knickers in a blind panic 50meters in to the run is never going to a good option.

3. Do not under any circumstances let a 5 year child over take you – it is very demoralising

A beautiful sunny day for the Gawsworth 10km which was a very friendly and well organised race. A fast and slightly downhill start separated the field (I lost sight of Dave and Steven immediately after faffing around with my phone) and lead us through some quiet roads around the outskirts of Gawsworth village. The first 4km of the race covered ‘slightly undulating’ tarmac, before dropping down on to the canal for about 1km.

For the city girl that I am the canal was an interesting sight, most of my running is done along the Manchester Ship Canal, so you can imagine my fascination to be running along a canal that lacked used contraceptives, dead rats and shopping trolleys.

From the canal we moved on to what I would class as ‘proper cross country’ across fields and over dirt tracks. The race organisers had spray painted the tripping hazards bright orange which was a nice touch (and very helpful for the clumsy folk).

Back on the roads at about 8km where the slower 10k runners met the 5km fun runners, there were some very small children who were putting us all to shame, and I had to work very hard to stop a little one over taking me!

The final km took us through a recently ploughed potato field which was a first for many, I considered grabbing some for Sunday lunch then remembered I was there to run a race not do my grocery shopping. After the potato field it was a nice downhill trot through a field to Gawsworth Hall, where a much needed bottle of water and a medal were waiting for us.