Race report by Greg:
Today me and Janet travelled to Lancaster to take part in the Golden Balls run. There’s a Ten mile and 20mile option. 2 laps out and back for the 20. It’s a flat fast route along the river Lune using the old railway lines .
Janet chose this as its great Training for our upcoming Marathon in Chester . Very well marshalled and plenty of water stations .
We arrived early and registered in the George and Dragon pub ..The forecast didn’t look great and we stayed in the pub as long as possible thinking the 10miler sounded the better option. I’ve not run any big mileage since London so was slightly apprehensive and came to realise a sub 4 at Chester might be a stretch.
Time came close to 11 so we made our way to the start. The claxon sounded and it was go go . I set off like a rocket as usual and soon lost sight of Janet. I kept turning around thinking she was soon to appear and trot past me ..5k in and I was ticking over nicely. There were plenty of dog walkers and folk on course which took some navigating around . 5 mile out on the return leg I eventually saw her . All was good and her glut was behaving. First gel around 7 miles and lots of water sips . I was plodding on counting the miles and eating my supply of jelly babies. Arrived back at the start where the 10 milers had a spring in their step as they headed to the funnel . I set back out on lap 2 and found my legs getting stronger. I caught a bloke up and we chatted a while before he found another gear and left me .
Heard ” come on Greg” and a mate from Myerscough was supporting his brother who was behind us . This gave me a power boost and caught the bloke from earlier and left him for dust . The return leg is where I saw Janet. I had water which I was going to cool her down with until I thought it might not be the best move as an old couple were walking in front of her .
Then spotted people water skiing in the river as i approached the finish.
I was cruising in for a sub 3 finish . Really chuffed as I actually pulled it off.
Finished time was 2hr 54 :22 secs
And Janet 3hr 34 secs .
A great day out for us both. A brilliant Coaster and a choice of yellow or orange t-shirt. You all know which we got.
Water , banana and waggon wheel. A great training day . And sub 4 potential perhaps.
Thanks Janet for the company and the calmness when I pulled over on the hard shoulder coming back as I was about to pass out sweating profusely. A drink and an apple pastry soon brought me back .
Thanks everyone for the kudos. You’re all the best .
