by Andrew Hallworth

A slightly chilly Sunday morning greeted us on the 18^th October as Kate Johnson and I headed over to collect Kate’s mum and then head off to Buckingham for race day.  It had been over 6 months since I put on the purple and gold vest in anger (MK festival of running 10k in March being the last race I entered) and outside of the negative thoughts I was actually looking forward to the race which is highly unusual for me.

I had been convinced to enter this race with the information that it was a “fairly flat” course with nice views in an around Stowe House and was a little surprised at the registration to hear someone describing the route as “pretty hilly” and “not that easy”.  Those good feelings quickly started to fade but I was in now and the race number was attached.  Getting close to the start time it was good to see some familiar faces arrive in purple and gold as I didn’t have a clue who else from LBAC had entered the race, Amy Inchley, Tim Inchley, Lynn Boddy, Katie & Adam Haylock, Charlie Mead and Sarah Lyon from Kate’s improvers group were all there for a strong club turnout.

Off to the start and my preparation had been faultless as usual, no safety pins and a Garmin watch with no battery, you can tell I was never in the scouts as a child!.  Kate kindly lent me her watch and we headed to the start.

The race got underway with a little winding route through Buckingham town centre before turning up the hill towards Stowe House. The sight of the long driveway was not too off-putting and I thought this isn’t too bad being able to run up the driveway.  Again a lack of preparation coming to the fore as we turned off the driveway and onto the gravel pathway that runs parallel, I now began to see why it was described a multi terrain race.  At this stage I thought we must be about 1km into the race so looked at the watch to then realise it was set to Miles rather than Km’s and a little bit of panic set in as I always run in Km’s normally, but I saw it a good opportunity to focus the mind with some mental arithmetic.

I spent the first 5 km’s staying on a pace about 20 metres behind Katie Haylock and was very glad to have sight of both Katie and Lynn as I knew this meant I was going at a good pace.  To say the course was undulating would be a kind as we continued up and down some longer hills which tested the legs on numerous occasions.  Katie and I were beginning to run alongside each other and as we went through the 5km marker we heard the marshal shout “its nearly all downhill from here”.  To call him a liar would be an understatement as we then turned away from the golf course (where is really where I wished I was at that time) and onto an uphill section which lasted about 2kms. It was a really tough slog up the hill but was glad to see the Scouts water station after 7km as I knew it was the turn for home and all the way back alongside the driveway towards the finish.

As I headed up and down the hills towards the finish I could see Lynn in the distance but was just unable to catch up as the hills began to take their toll on my legs.  As I reached the final descent back towards the town centre I could see support from Tim, Adam, Charlie & Amy who had already finished and then gave it as much of a sprint as possible towards the finish to try and catch Lynn but she was just a bit to quick for me on this occasion.  I was more than happy with a respectable time of 47:17 considering my lack of racing in 2015 and was really grateful to be running near Katie and Lynn who dragged me along at a quicker pace than I would have done on my own.

It was also great to see lots of support on the race route with Andy Inchley and Erin taking the photo’s, Edward and Florence Haylock cheering everyone along and Ian Grimshaw and the family supporting at the finish line.

We all waited to cheer the rest of the team home with Kate running a very impressive 55:15 with no time keeping assistance at all and her mum also coming home with a new 10km pb to show off!  Once all finished we dashed off to the local café for refreshments and a well earned rest.

Some good team results with Adam Haylock finishing 4^th overall, Tim Inchley 6^th, Charlie Mead 10^th and Amy being the 4^th female finisher.

Overall a very nice race to take part in with some great views around Stowe but you definitely know you have taken part in a 10k race after those hills!

by Charlie Mead

Last Sunday saw 9 LBAC runners head to Buckingham for the 10k in what seemed like perfect conditions for running (slightly chilly and no wind), the course itself was not the most exciting with around 2 miles being straight up one road and then the last 2 being back down that boring straight road! However the couple of miles in the middle were a bit more interesting, taking in the beautiful setting and heading past Stowe school.

The general conversation amongst our runners was ‘who has run this course before’ and ‘is it a fast course?’ The answers soon came and we found out that it was not a PB course! The first 1-4km was either up or down, there was very few flats which was probably what made it so hard. Between 5-7 km it was pretty much all up hill and then the last 3 km was the same as the first, up and down! There was a fast finish though with a steep, long downhill going back into the town.

First home for LBAC was Adam Haylock who had a strong run to finish 4^th in a time of 37:45 around a minute behind the overall winner. First home for the LBAC women was Amy Inchley who also ran well in a time of 44:47 and finished 38^th on the day. Tim Inchley followed Adam home in 38:21 beating the time he ran last year by around 40 seconds. Charlie Mead finished 10^th in 39:13, Charlie Copping who is on the verge of joining the club, ran a PB in 45:27, meaning that he can run even quicker on a faster course. Lynn Boddy and Andrew Hallworth had a close battle with Lynn just winning in a time of 47:06 and Andrew running 47:17. Katie Haylock was not far behind these two and ran a respectable time of 48:10. Kate Johnson had a strong finish to get a time of 55:15 whilst Sarah Lyon completed the course in 62:06.

Overall, a good turnout from LBAC on a nice(ish) course, well organised and a medal for all. I would recommend it for anyone that wants a challenging course and doesn’t mind getting slightly bored with running in a straight line!