Back

Bourton 10k - Edward Collier - February 2010

Yesterday was the Bourton-on-the-Water 10k, and as I jogged around trying to avoid frostbite, I mused on the possibility of using race dates as a variable in a calculation engine to determine the best time to take a holiday. As a general rule, the Bourton 10k is held on the coldest day in February, and so my notional computer would suggest that would be a fine time to decamp to Sicily, but that it would be a very poor decision to pitch up to Skegness in a t-shirt and shorts.

If you want to take a holiday in the UK, just look up the date of the Cranham Boundary Chase, because it's always reliably sweltering.

At Bourton there was a good turnout of Almosts, mostly huddled together before the start like pack animals trying to get shelter from the biting wind. I felt big and tough in just a vest and shorts, but no-one knew about the bright blue sticking plasters I'd blagged off the St John's Ambulance to protect my nipples, nor that under my GoreTex racing gloves were a pair of my son's woollen gloves I'd found in the car, stretched to breaking point.

So, the conditions not good. A very stiff breeze along the Rissington Road promised a tough second half and so it delivered. The race begins with two short laps in the village, before heading out of town, then along a country lane to a bollard, around which you sweep before doing the whole thing in reverse. It's generally accounted a fast course - I have run my three fastest times there - but this year was my worst for about twenty years (more than four minutes slower than my PB). My excuses are many and various - advancing decrepitude is foremost, but the most likely to gain traction is that I had bronchitis for most of February and lost a lot of training. As it happens, I actually felt pretty good about my performance and enjoyed the race - unlike last year I didn't feel the need for a pitstop at 6 km, and in any case these days a race where I don't stop and do some shouting is accounted a triumph. At the end the beanie hat that comprised the goody bag - a beanie bag, if you will - was a good deal less essential than it had been at the start.

There were some fine performances by Almosts. Anthony Bailey ran a PB and finished in the top 20, Chris Midgley dipped under 40 minutes, while Katie Rose took the honours of first lady Almost in a very respectable 43:15.

In a slight non-sequitur: many years ago (well, last century) Cheltenham hosted a major 10k race. Sadly it only lasted for one year, because the roads were closed and some whiny people were unable to get to B & Q to get their fix of Magnolia, and they complained loudly enough to persuade Cheltenham Borough Council not to allow a second running. The organisers moved the race to Moreton-in-Marsh Fire College which, although flat and fast and with some very unusual scenery, had all the atmosphere of a Sunday's shopping for Magnolia at B & Q, and the race withered and died. However, this year there is another 10k being held at the Fire College, this time in aid of Help for Heroes. Anyone wishing to run a fast 10k time would do well to put 11 April in the diary - if you want an entry form phone 07901 621334.