Henley River 10K, 12 Apr 2025

My first race of the year, and about time too, I had been getting itchy feet! A few friends had signed up to do this, so it was a lovely chance for a hit-out ahead of a half-marathon in 5 weeks. Going into it, I had felt fantastic and so the evening before I said to myself I would like a PB. However, race morning chatting with friends I realised that it was not the flat, riverside run I had anticipated and there were a few lumps and bumps in the middle - no matter, we would just run well and see what we came out with.

No nerves at the start, which was unusual but a welcome change - I think having so many friends there made for a relaxing start. I moved towards the start line after they called the sub-50 group, hoping I would be able to scrape under. Next thing, we were off. The first 2k were quick (for me), and two close calls with ankles rolling (I wore carbon shoes thinking it would be mostly footpaths, not trail terrain!), and I was keeping pace with my friend (a good pacer). Then for the first little bump, aim to keep going and then enjoy the gradual down-hill. The next 2k flew by, still on good pace, and the lump not having caused too much damage. At 4.5km there was a particularly fun lump, well kind of two lumps back to back. Here I just did small steps and was able to keep the pace.

I was greeted at the top of the climb by my parents and family dog and closely followed by a water station, I took the opportunity to slow to a walk to have a few sips (then chuck the rest over me - it was gloriously sunny and starting to feel HOT!). Then for some fun undulation, more trail terrain and through the woods and fields. A few path narrowings and a couple of gates to navigate meant up to 6km was a bit slower, but I was not complaining after those hills and used the time to recover ahead of the final flat 4km. We hit the river and I knew that once we ran back to the start we would not be done and would have to do a little extra to meet the 10k. I kept on the shoulder of another runner the whole way down the footpath, using him as a pacer and also motiviation. We got to the final km and it was back on to the grass, legs were beginning to bob a little and I was just trying to stay upright, but managed to pass the guy and head into the final stretch, upping the pace as much as I could to cross the line. I wasn't sure if I had done enough for a PB with the lumps and bumps in the middle, but I was delighted to see my watch (and chip time) showed a PB (49:43 chip time, 49.33 watch time) - wonderful!!

It was fabulous to do a race with so many friends racing and spectating and it gave me great confidence heading into a half-marathon shortly. It also makes me want to find a flat 10k to see what I really could run for the distance!

Lottie Lindsley