Bamburgh 10k Race Report – 17th June 2012

 

As is often the case with Run Northumberland events the race is usually an early start, this was not different with a scheduled start of 9.30. This meant that an early departure from Newcastle of 7.30 was required in order to make sure registration formalities and required warm ups were completed in plenty of time. The weather forecast had been for a cloudy but dry morning. This proved not to be the case as a steady light drizzle started approaching the village of Bamburgh. On arriving at the castle and getting out of the car I was taken back by how cold it was up on the coast, to put it in basic terms it was bloody cold.

The race HQ was at the cricket pavilion in the shadow of Bamburgh Castle, a more impressive venue for a race would be hard to find. I had heard that there wasn’t a big entry for the race and this was confirmed at registration. From what I could gather only about 230 pre-race registrations had been made, this was a bit disappointing given the surroundings and the fact that the course was a genuine road race held on open roads, which in itself is becoming a rarity. This was also one of the rare occasions where TBH vests weren’t out in abundance, as far as I could establish I was it. I couldn’t see any ‘big names’ warming up, I saw a posse of Morpeth Harriers including top Vet Phil Walker but that was about it as far as the sharp end was concerned. From the registration it looked like unattached runners would make up the majority of the field. Conditions were cool and damp with a noticeable brisk NE wind; which would definitely have an impact on the last 4k of the race. 

The course had been adjusted this year with the race start moved from the village to the top of the hill at the back of the Castle. This meant that the finish would finish directly on the cricket pitch rather than the previous arrangement, which included 2 ½ laps around the cricket pitch. For the start athletes faced south, with spectacular views of the Northumberland coast.  After a fast downhill start around the south walls runners headed into Bamburgh village. The fast downhill start saw Elswick’s Dave Jardin do a kamikaze sprint take the lead at the bottom of the hill soon to be overtaken by a big group including about 6 Morpeth runners and eventual winner Carl Taylor.

 

Early stages of race.

As expected the turn at 6k brought the headwind but also the surprisingly undulating road, in all of my visits to Bamburgh I hadn’t noticed how much the road rises basically along the entire stretch. I was working to catch the runner in front of me a Sunderland Harrier, just as the gap was closing an Alnwick runner stormed past me in the last kilometer. I tried to stay with him but he was just to fast. I used him to try to bridge the gap but was running out of road. The Alnwick runner caught and passed the Sunderland Harrier only to be caught again on the line with me a further 5 or so seconds behind. The Alnwick runner actually beat me at the Clive Cookson a couple of weeks ago by about half a minute so I can’t be too disappointed. I finished in 37.12, in 13^th position, only 12 secs outside of this year’s best time. I think I am actually getting the London out of my system. Eventually.