Most definitely not the winner.

The Wellingborough Multi Terrain Series is one of my favourite events for several reasons not least that it’s literally just down the road which means I can jump out of bed a mere 45 minutes before it begins and still be at the start line in plenty of time. As you can probably gather I’m not a great one for lots plenty of preparation, just a banana and a quick stretch then I’m ready to go. 

This was the fourth time I’d taken part in this popular event and for a change the weather had behaved itself leading up to race day so we weren’t treated to the usual mud fest around certain parts of the course.  The course itself is a 3 mile or so loop around Irchester Country Park switching from grass to mud to track and so forth, meandering in and out of the park’s large conifers. It’s not exactly spectacular but I like it a lot and for someone who very rarely strays from the tarmac then it was a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning.  

The event is one of several organised by Justracing and as always the air was filled with race organiser Alan’s humorous quips and musings on life and the universe. Certainly if he ever wants to change career then local radio’s the way to go. As we’ve come to expect the race was well organised, enthusiastically marshalled with the eclectic mix of runners ranging from experienced club runners to beginners creating a really good atmosphere.  It was the final event of the this years 3 race series (as well as the 10k which I ran there are also 5k and 15k races) and with winners prizes and club honours up or grabs the support around certain parts of the course was very vocal.  

I must admit I struggled at various parts of the course, there’s quite a hill at the beginning and second time around I was quite surprised how much it took out of me. It certainly shows that you can’t cheat a lack of training (hands up my training of late has been a little erratic to say the least) so I’m back on it again big time this week.

I wouldn’t imagine there were many PB’s however there were some quite stellar performances with Wellingborough & District AC taking the club championships from Kettering Harriers by the narrowest of margins. The full race results and those for the complete series are on the Justracing site. 

As it has done for the last few years the Wellingborough Multi Terrain has been the start of the racing year for me and as always it’s an event that never fails to put a smile on my face.  

Time now then methinks to knuckle down to some hard work for the coming months. 

We'd love to hear about the races you'll be running .

Drop us an email to myevents@therunningbug.co.uk and tell us where you'll be. We'll also send you one of our magnificent Bug t-shirts to wear!

As Joe has remarked (he's the fashionable one) it really does "go with anything".

Cheers 

Ian