Rushcliffe 10k Multi-terrain

Goody bag included bag, buff and medal

Neil does Berlin

This turned out the be the perfect antidote for those missing the cross-country season already as 800 runners turned Rushcliffe Country Park into an ever bigger sea of mud as they did two laps in a very wet Ruddington. GRC’s European Marathon man, Neil Emerson, chose this as part of his build up the his Swiss Marathon ahead of the Retford Half next week and the Ashby 20 on the Sunday following that. In a field thinned out by almost two hundred no-shows or perhaps “let’s sneak back to the car” type runners it completely overwhelmed the metre wide paths of a course similar to the Melton Mowbray parkrun. Having the good sense to start near the front Neil got away cleanly unlike teammate Robert McArdle who naively started in the signed starting box and was bogged down, literally. As the race progressed Neil was able to consolidate his position passing halfway dead on 25 minutes and keeping up the pace on the muddier second lap as the remaining grass became more brown than green. Approaching the final corner with exactly 20 seconds to go to beat fifty minutes the commentator caught Neil's green shirt in the distance and got everyone to cheer him in with a countdown, Neil duly obliged with a sprint and possible a dip to cross the line in 49:59 although his chip time would give him a few seconds better at 49:52. Taking part that day as the UKA event Adjudicator Robert finished in 48:01.

This would have been a fun race on a warmer, dryer day but as it was it very cold and wet.