Southwold 10k

 

Simon and Stuart

As the tail of Storm Arwen whipped its last across the country, two Grantham Running Club members joined the field of 715 runners for the Adnams Southwold 10k.  The rain stopped and the clouds parted moments before the start, but the bitter wind continued unabated, and the heavy overnight rainfall left two large sections of the 2 lap course littered with large deep puddles of icy water.

The race starts at the Southwold Harbour Inn, at the most distant point from the town itself, and the finish line.  The first kilometre is run along the very rough and wet harbour road, through the working harbour, past the huts and boats before turning on to the Shore Road, heading toward Southwold.  The route then turns left and up the hill to York Road before descending past the golf club back to the harbour, forming an almost 4km loop around the Town Marshes. 

The race, as always, was very well supported by spectators and plenty of enthusiastic and encouraging volunteer marshals, especially in last 200m rise up to the finish outside the Red Lion.

Stuart Baty (MV50) was the first of the GRC friends in, with a solid time of 49:18.  Simon Hartley (MV50) improved his season’s best with 01:01:56, a time some 7 minutes better than his 2019 attempt.

Despite the conditions, the overall winner was Reuben Andrews of Bungay Black Dog RC in 32:59, less than a minute shy of the course record.  First female was Jo Andrews, of the same club in 38:31.