Rhyl 10 mile – British Master’s Championships

The Rhyl 10 mile race was a late edition to my 2018 race calendar. My running club, Newcastle (Staffs) AC required another member to run to complete a team for the British Master’s Championships, whilst I also had a number of friends already booked to run the race. I hastily booked the race making sure I was also registered with BMAF.

The morning was bitterly cold, around 2C with a slight breeze, it was uncomfortable without the dry robe on, but I knew once I got running, I would warm up and should be fine. I traveled with a friend, met some more at the car park and said hello to the rest of the Newcastle Team before the start of the race in between toilet stops, bag drop and warm ups. There seemed to be a good crowd, I would hazard a guess of around 400 and once we had been called to the start line (around 5 minutes before the race start) I moved myself towards the front of the pack. (Not right at the front, Im not that quick!)

10 miles is an interesting distance and this was my first race of this length. I had recently ran a half marathon (13.1miles/21km) with an average pace of 4.55m/km whilst my best 10km pace was 4.40m/km. I figured that if I was around 4.50m/km pace I should be able to keep going on even splits – targeting around 1h 18m finish time.

The gun went off and off we went. There was a slight up and down hill before getting onto the promenade and the adrenline rush started me off with a 4.30 pace for the first kilometre, I knew this was too fast (its my best 5km pace) so I slowed it down to my target pace of 4.50.

The route itself was pretty flat, pretty much a straight run along the promenade to Prestatyn, a small loop around a housing estate and then back long the promenade to the finish line. The surrounding area was pretty and some really nice views of the sea and windmills, but on the whole, the course was pretty dull.

On my route back, and into the last few kilometres, I still felt pretty strong, so I gradually upped my pace to 4.40, 4.35 and in the last km to 4.30. I managed to finish with an overall time of 1h 16m 12s and an overall average pace of 4.43m/km. I was so pleased with this time.

As well as a great finish time, I helped the second team Newcastle team to a bronze medal, whilst the first team won a silver. All team members won a podium position in individual and team prizes!

We celebrated with a dirty burger and pint at a local Wetherspoons, where I blew my friend’s mind by ordering using the app – If you havent downloaded the app and ordered using it, its a revelation!

Rhyl 10 mile is a really flat and fast course. Great for a PR and certainly worth a look if you are wanting a 10 mile record but not an interesting course with no real change in scenery.

Kit Choice:

• 361 Stratomic running shoes
• Enertor Compression Socks & base layer shorts
• Under Armour Gold Gear long sleeve top