I'd been training hard for months and in my head a 10k run was going to be a walk in the park. My running schedule already included two runs over 10k every week, along with three shorter runs, so the distance was no issue. I was also running up Churwell Hill a couple of times a week which was good as I had been told that there was a steep incline at around 7k of the Harewood course.
I did a bit more research into the route through the grounds of Harewood House. It was meant to be paths and tracks but with a good chance of mud, so I decided to wear the trail shoes that I had bought to tackle the Somme like conditions of the Kirkstall to Rodley section of the canal tow path.
My race prep was going to plan. I tapered my training so that my legs would be fresh and then I went out on an all day Street Food and drinking bender the day before the race. Let me let you in on a little secret, stuffing yourself with tapas and curry then drinking beer and whisky while playing darts is NOT good race prep.
I had no right making it to the start line on time but I did. Sadly I was there in plenty of time to endure the mass-humiliation of the group warm up. Shimmying while marching on the spot was not doing my hangover any favours. At least I had moral support from running buddy Diane who, like me, is also not a fan of the pre-race aerobics class.
The race finally got under way through a tight start/finish funnel. It took some time to get over the start line but the pack soon spread out once we were passed the barriers. Sadly we were bunched back together again almost straight away as the route took us through a five bar gate. I know now that having to walk through the gate didn't have much of an affect on my finishing time but right then I felt like I had ground to make up.
We passed the front door of Harewood house and headed out to the back of the estate. The narrow path through the trees was beset on all sides by muddy puddles and I was pleased as punch with my choice of foot ware. Most people were sticking to the raised middle of the track but I could happily pass on the outside, accepting that muddy was going to be the way I finished the race.
At 3.5k the path opened up and we could look back across the estate at the house. This was the moment that cemented the Harewood 10k as the best race I have ever taken part in. Running through the countryside with birds of prey circling above me. No traffic noise, just the rolling beauty of the Vale of York around us. We dropped back into the valley and I started to think about what was coming next. I knew that around one of these corners was "the hill".
There are a number of things that will stick in my mind from the hill. The first was the disembodied voice of another runner who commented that they had never seen so many people walking part of a race. I had thought that it was just me who had slowed to a walk but I was in the majority, a fact which helped me feel better about my failure to run the entire course.
The second memory that will stay with me long after I have hung up my running shoes, was a lad who had to stop and walk back down the hill to retrieve one of his trainers. The trainer in question had come off in a puddle of mud the like of which I've not seen since Artax was lost in the Swamp of Sadness.
The hill levelled off and I picked my pace back up again, covering the final kilometre at something like my usual pace. I finished in 54:10 which was a couple of minutes slower than I had anticipated, but then it was faster than the time I had set for the Abbey Dash. Even walking up the hill had resulted in me getting a new 10k PB.
This year's Harewood 10k is now only a couple of weeks away and I can't wait. This year I will be sober and I am determined beat that hill. I have two time targets to beat too, 54:10 for the course and 49:52* for the distance. Anywhere between the two and I'll be happy, that said, I'm going to be happy getting to re-run my favourite race of 2014.
*time set at the Leeds 10k 2014
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