The EDF Energy Lydd 10k Race Report and Results
So after a pretty decent showing in the Deal 10k recently I was looking for another 10k I could squeeze in before heading off on holidays !
The Lydd 10k is a brand new race for 2019 and advertised itself as “pancake flat” so I thought I would give it a go. It’s a bit of a trek to get there but the 10.30am start was appreciated.
The race HQ itself was in a field near the cricket club with plenty of free parking nearby and a charity BBQ which I promised myself I would take advantage of afterwards.
I couldn’t see any other TRAC vests at the start but did notice that Heather Keen also ran when I checked the results. Lots of runners were there from more local running clubs like Hastings and Ashford.
The course was, as advertised, very flat and you could see for miles in every direction. There was hardly any incline at all as the course wound round quiet country lanes to the North of Lydd itself. The leading pack went out very fast indeed. I found out after the winner finished in a shade over 30 minutes which was an incredible performance. There was a light breeze with warm sunshine making everyone feel hot with the breeze behind us on the way out.
As it wasn’t a club championship event or Grand Prix event I thought I would just blast out for the first 5k and then hang on for the next 5k. Even with a first mile time of 5.37 I found myself outside of the top 10 which shows you how quick the leading pack went out. Things settled down a little by the half way mark and I had caught a couple of people as I went through the 5k mark in just over 18 minutes. I caught the leading lady at 6k who had gone out with the leading pack but she looked like she was really struggling at this stage. My legs were feeling pretty heavy at this point too as this race was at the end of quite a few weeks of tough training and racing.
The next couple of miles resulted in an inevitable slowing of my pace but I was pulling further away from the group behind and no one had come past me so I told myself I was doing something right ! The course wound back in a loop to where the start was and I could see the finishing area from about a mile out which was very welcome.
It’s always a strange point near the end of a race where you can’t quite catch anyone in front but you are sure you have a pretty big lead on the people behind so I just focused on trying to speed up slightly and maintain my top 10 finishing position.
After running up a gravel track I entered the field and came over the finish line in 37:08 which was my quickest 10k for a few years. I finished 9th overall out of over 150 starters and picked up the MV45 age category prize which was an unexpected bonus. The winner, Ross Skelton from Hastings AC finished in 30:04 – almost 3 minutes clear of 2nd place.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to try and go for a fast time on a genuinely pancake flat course with some lovely long stretches of country lanes to run round.
TRAC finishers:
9th Andy Stevens 37:08
144th Heather Keen 1:15:21
Andy 👍