From Sally Armitage…
Today was the BEST day ever! I tootled over to Brighouse for RunAble’s early doors 10k road race. I ran one of their evening 10k races, along the same route, last August.
Last time I realised that RunAble are not fans of clear signposting and in August I was lucky to just about still see the runner in front or I would’ve gotten lost in the brief dash through an industrial estate. This time I’d decided to set off extra early and run through that section to memorise it, and I was glad I did because today I had no one to follow.
Most of the route is actually quite straight forward, 3 miles down Elland Road, over Elland Bridge, then 3 miles back along the canal towpath. With a slight deviation through an industrial estate to top the distance up. The only notable inclines are at the beginning, a short sharp incline up to Elland Road, and at the end, another short sharp incline away from the canal towpath to the finish.
Much to my delight, and for likely the only time, I won the race outright, beating the boys too! Never have I ever been the overall winner before! I ran the course 1 minute 30 seconds quicker than in August, I think this was a combo of cooler weather/increased mileage/brand spanking new Vaporflys. I lead from around 4k, assuming I would be overtaken at some point in the next couple of kilometres, I think at 8km I dared to think I was in with a chance of being 1st over the line but was too scared to look over my shoulder. Then, with around 500 metres to go, I had a look back and I knew it was in the bag. What a buzz!
1st Sally Armitage 39:23
98 ran