Sunday 4th October- Bramham 10k

Sunday 4th October- Bramham 10k

Report from Hannah Lupton:

Bramham 10k is a favourite of mine as I like the undulating trail course in gorgeous settings however I’d been unsure about entering this year due to issues at home, i.e. Gavs accident. Anyway, Laura and I had been talking about it for weeks and finally decided on over a pint on Fri night that it’d be a nice Sunday morning run.

We set off in the cold mist that seems to have been plaguing Yorkshire all week and by the time we got there the sun was starting to break through so it was set to be good conditions and we stripped of our extra layers of gloves and buffs . As we were lining up to register we were joined by two more Otley AC members, Tom Hannah and Phil Robinson. All of us have done the race before and we were looking forward to a pleasant run round the estate. The event also has a 5k option and is open to walkers as well as runners with all proceeds going to Cancer Research. There is an organised warm up at the beginning, which we missed as we are serious runners and don’t do all that prancing about (as Tom called it).

Although it’s a low key event it’s always a bit of a scramble at the beginning trying to get past those that are a bit slower than you, it’s one of those events where you wish you’d started a bit further forward. Phil was immediately off and that was the last we saw of him, Laura, Tom and myself stuck together for the first K.  Laura and I started to pull away as I shouted to Tom “see you in a couple of miles”, knowing full well that it wouldn’t be the last we’d see of him. I think it’s fair to say that Laura and I haven’t done much speed training lately, opting for the let’s just get out for a run and chat training option. It took us a while to settle down into a rhythm and I was struggling to catch my breath which was driving me nuts as I couldn’t find a comfortable pace. Eventually we settled down and got on with trying to beat last years’ time, at one point we were on for a pb but I knew I couldn’t keep the pace up on this course as it’s got some long inclines and a couple of sneaky short steep hills. At the top of one of these inclines at about 6.5k we realised Tom was on our shoulder again and ran with him for a little while till he caught his breath and off he went, no chance of keeping up with him.

Last year at 7k I was completely done and as we passed this mark I realised I felt really strong, which is a first, and at 8k we decided to maintain a steady pace in preparation for pushing harder for the finish at 9k. We managed to reel Tom in a bit but were never going to catch him up. On the hilly approach at the end we kept picking up the pace ready for the finish and I could hear two girls chatting behind us who were getting closer and closer, there was no way I was letting them pass us so I said to Laura “come on let’s do this” and we picked up the pace again to finish with a sprint to the end.

I was really pleased that I didn’t feel like I wanted to die at the end which goes to show I must be fitter than I think I am. And the hills didn’t kill me like they have in previous years, in fact one of the hills at the end no longer felt like a hill and I’m putting that down to having done more off road racing this year and starting Liam’s hill training sessions. I don’t believe the results are out yet so these times are approximate and from memory of our chat after when we were comparing how the race had gone –

Phil Robinson 51 minutes, Tom Hannah 56 minutes, Laura and I 57:30 so we should have beaten last years’ time, job done!

3 thoughts on “Sunday 4th October- Bramham 10k

  1. I liked your report from this 10k Hannah , it made me wish I was there running with you as well and we discovered as well that you are a very competitive runner. Phil R . had an excellent result with 51 minutes that is really fast, also Tom H. with 56 minutes ran really well indeed . Laura and Hannah L. with 57:30 had a lovely day running in Bramham.

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