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| The Adur on a sunny day (photo from Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust website) |
I didn’t really fancy entering the ½ mile river swim or the dragonboat races, but the 10K trail race along the riverside paths looked interesting, particularly for a pleasant August bank holiday. It was set up by one of the local running clubs (Lancing Eagles), so I entered in advance.
Did I say pleasant August bank holiday? Well I got that one wrong! It had been raining for most of the weekend, and there was more forecast on the day. Still, I’d entered it so I turned up at the race HQ in the town centre to collect my number, then jog the half mile to the start line just on the edge of Shoreham. The rain was quite light, but it was starting to get windy. I knew the course area quite well, it was a simple 5K upstream through paths on one side of the river Adur (pronounced as in letter A – derr), then over a footbridge and down the other side.
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Before the race and
already half soaked
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The first quarter mile was on tarmac, and the 100 or so
runners thinned out reasonably quickly. It was then off the tarmac which would
have been full of bikes, prams, etc. and onto the grassy riverside path.
Surprisingly it wasn’t too muddy, there were plenty of puddles but it was
usually firm enough to run on, and there was a nice strong sea breeze behind us
to make life easier. I tried not to think about running back into it! The
course was completely flat, and would have had pleasant views of the hills in
better weather.
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| Coverage in the Worthing & Shoreham Herald. Apparently runners came from as far as Germany and Cheshire for the event! |
The nearest thing to a climb was the footbridge at the half way
point. I’d run the first half at nearly my 5K pace and immediately regretted
going so quickly when I turned round into the wind. So the second half was hard
work. At least there was a water stop, and the way back was well marshalled at
the only points where we could get lost (crossing side streams), so it was good
to have a bit of support there. Finally it was back to the edge of town, over
another footbridge and back onto the start of the course for a 100 yard dash to
the finish line. My time was 47:12, way below my best but not far off what I’d
expect for the conditions. The finish
area was well organised and there was a small goody bag with nibbles and
adverts for local races.
Final thought – If I’m down in Shoreham again next summer
I’d definitely do it again. It was well organised, particularly as it was the
first time they’d run it, and a very flat, scenic route.
Click here to visit the website of the organising running club.
Martin C