The Northumberland Coastal Run. It’s a run I do every year and rave (or should that be drone on?) about at the club. It’s brilliant, it’s challenging and it’s during the summer so the weather is always sunny. Well nearly always….. This year the summer has been like the one of 1976. Now I realise you have to be a certain age to remember what that summer was like, but suffice to say it was dry, it was sunny and it was hot. Much like this year. Well that was until Friday. …. I had been watching the weather forecast and it wasn’t looking the best for the coastal run on Sunday. Wet and windy the prediction
Now the run is a 14 mile point to point course. That means you need to be a little bit organised in your transport arrangements as leaving your car at the start can leave you a bit stuck. Something that had slowly dawned on Dean who after a bit of explaining had understood that if you leave your car at the start and haven’t got a lift back you’d be running an ultra! Something that only Susan would be looking forward to! Luckily for Dean, Susan had decided that 33 miles on Saturday hadn’t been enough and had travelled down with Nick to do a wee bit extra. I had already spotted her running as I was making my way to the start and she was now doing the Coastal Run route as a bit of training. Absolutely bloody amazing!
I was being dropped at the start and she who loves tea, beaches and the sea an awful lot was going to be at the finish. I couldn’t find my fellow CAACers for a bit…..as they were all huddled inside Nick’s car. It was a bit windy outside and I was told even windier on the beach. Ah well at least it wasn’t raining! Well it wasn’t at that point…….. The warm up consist mostly out of staying in Nick’s car for as long as possible and then dashing to the start!
And then the race started. Now I know the purist amongst us don’t like the idea of drafting and some of us are just too big to find anyone to draft behind anyway. It would have been handy on this run as it was windy and now very wet too! I did find that I was proving useful to other runners and when I saw Fiona struggling on the second long beach section. I knew I could only do one thing. Get past her and increase my pace as to not give her an unfair advantage! Nick wouldn’t approve! No such luck though she stuck to me like a a limpet…. only to let me go once she found shelter when we came of the beach.
The negative split I planned to run actually came to fruition. Wonders will never cease! And when I got to the finish I was exhilarated! I found that all my fellow CAACers were too. I might have heard she who just loves tea mutter that we are all bonkers. She is quite right. But if you haven’t done this race then do it. Normally the weather is much better and the scenery and route are just stunning! Great running by our team. Especially Fiona who finished 1st F55 and Graeme 3rd M55!