KEEP ON RUNNING !

RACE No.63 The Les  Alcorn 10K Alnwick

A Couple of Youngsters With  A Combined Age Of  143 Years

 A variation on the theme of ' if it ain't broken, don't fix it', could be 'if you are running well, keep on running!' Well, that's my theory and I know it works, until I get injured.

So it was, that after my third race of the week on Sunday, The Siglion Sunderland 10K , I thought I would put in another, The Les Alcorn 10K on Tuesday.

This race is set in the beautiful grounds of the Alnwick Estate, running on the estate roads following the River Aln. To make it interesting there is a hill in the first and last mile.

At the start I was chatting to Blyth's John Mallon, a former colleague, who had pipped me in the Blyth 10K. I reasoned that as he had caught me just before the finish at Blyth, then we would start this race together and see what transpired.

As we came to the top of that first hill we were joined by two other Blyth runners and it was nip and tuck for the next three miles. At this point in the race , the four mile mark, you are back down in the Aln Valley and enjoying a nice flat mile stretch. I had pushed ahead of the Blyth runners, but just before the start of the next hilly stretch John passed me again. Feeling good, I picked up the pace and repassing John, told him that he would murder me on the hill.

Maybe, racing every two days suits me. I only know that I felt strong on the climb and kept the pace going. Having caught another couple of runners as we reached the top of the hill , I thought all that remained was a sprint to the line. Wrong, there was another climb. At this point I must apologise to the marshalls as my language on seeing another and unexpected hill was not very gentlemanly.

Finally, there was a level fifty yard dash to the line to finish in 45.45 for 57th position. John finished  60th in 46.11. I was pleased to see that I was 8 seconds faster than last year.

At the presentation I was chatting to my fellow Tyndedale Harriers John Davidson and Eileen Armstrong (pictured above). Eileen finished in 61 minutes not a bad result for a youngster of 77 years, in fact that is to understate her achievement, it was wonderful and I can only hope that I can do as well at her age.

So I got through a lot of races in a short space of time - six in thirteeen days - without injury, now with business and holidays I have nothing planned for a couple of weeks, then the final two of my 65 race challenge, bring it on!