Melanie also equalled the Ladies club record with 38:32.

Melanie writes:

Prestwold, near Loughborough, was the venue for this year’s British Masters 10K championships.  It was also an open 10k race and its popularity as a fast, flat course resulted in over 740 runners on the tightly packed starting line.

The course was two large loops of the disused airfield and about 1km on countryside road around it.  It is completely flat and the only problem we had on Sunday was of course the wind.  There really is no shelter on a course like this and you have to just tuck in behind someone of larger proportions.  This is OK for the first mile or so and then as the runners string out you it’s just you and the elements. 

I was running quite well until the latter part of the race when something in my calf pulled.  I stopped momentarily and then in my usual stubborn way I thought, “No, I’ve got to finish”.  This is always a bad idea and I should have known better.  I struggled with my calf and the wind and the sheer boredom of the course during the last mile – the finish line is at the far end of a runway and you can see it for ages.  You seem to be running towards it for a long time and it doesn’t get any nearer (a bit like a bad dream).  However, safe over the line at last I immediately went in search of ice.  One St John’s ambulance and two cafes later – no ice to be found.  Great!  I then left the venue in search of a Sainsbury’s for a packet of peas which I attached around my calf for the journey home. 

All in all, a day of mixed fortunes.  A flat, rather boring course but still challenging.  The results make impressive reading for the masters – the second place in the overall race went to a vet in the 40-49 category in a time of 31.05!  The winner of my race category ran 36.24 so it was quite a motivator to keep training hard.  

Melanie James

Full results here