Hitchin 10k

Sunday May 4th 2025 | Hitchin | Author Stuart Hazlehurst

A week after a disappointing performance at the Dronfield 10k I was down visiting family in Hitchin so decided to do the 10k whilst I was there.  Luckily it was a lot cooler than Costa del Dronx and only a few minor hills, so I was delighted when my time was a whole 5 minutes quicker than the previous week!  This is a great race to attempt a PB (I didn’t unfortunately but both my wife and son did).

The race was on May 4th, so the organisers made the most of Star Wars day with the race directors dressed as Darth Vader and Princess Leah.  The fun run took place before the main 10k to ensure all kids had a good crowd to cheer them home, with each given a medal and inflatable lightsaber.

Hitchin is a lovely little town so a nice place to host a 10k, it had a good atmosphere which was similar to Dronfield 10k. There were no toilet facilities other than queuing in Starbucks or some public ones I found in the market.  The start of the 10k begins in a pretty street nearby the market square but it was a bit narrow and crowded.  It had no time markers so everyone just huddled together which caused a bit of chaos at the race start and I did see one lady get tripped up.  My son enjoyed the chaos though saying it was a bit like Lightning McQueen weaving through traffic in a race.

The start of the race is a lap round the centre of town before heading out towards the villages and Charlton.  Quite early on there was a lane I enjoyed which doubles back on you, so you have the chance to see and encourage some teammates both ahead and behind you.

There are not too many spectators around at this point but there were handfuls of locals who were encouraging.  It was nice though being in a bit of countryside and get into a decent rhythm.

As you enter the Charlton village you are informed Henry Bessemer was born there, who’s steel making process played a significant role in establishing Sheffield as a major industry centre!

Once out of the villages you head back to Hitchin via the same route as you left and as it is flat it was fairly easy to keep pushing.

The finish was good, heading back into the market square with both sides lined with cheering supporters.

On completion you receive a water and medal in a plastic bag, I thought a nicer touch would have been to actually put the medal around your neck.

I always compare races to the best one (Big Dipper of course):

• Marshalling -  Just enough of them, who were generally encouraging but not a patch on the dipper (3 out of 5)

• Hills. (0 out of 5) – I think there was just 1.

• PB potential (5 out of 5) - Perfect

• Route and location (4 out of 5) – Nice mixture of town and countryside

• Facilities (2 out of 5) – Lots of shops but lack of toilets

• Jelly Babies (1 out of 5) – 1 lady at about the 6km mark, I nearly missed her though and had to double back.

  
  

Records

• 1st DRC finisher – Stuart Hazlehurst 50:53

• DRC course record holder – Stuart Hazlehurst 50:53