Race Report - Alderley Edge 10k

Alderley Edge Bypass 10K

Sun 1st May 2022

Report by Becky Hansen

It was privilege to be one of the 4 Bees representing last Sunday.

Being casual and laid back we met at Alderley Park conference centre 1 hour 30 before the start!

Tom and Stu seemed very cool and calm after their scenic drive over The Cat and Fiddle, however the serenity soon dispersed after Tom handed the adorable knitted DRC bee to my 2 and 4 year olds… to SHARE.

Cue a volatile and highly aggressive fight to the death!

Time for me to escape.

The early drizzle had made way for dry and settled race conditions. Superb.

We headed out for our warm up and that’s when the nerves really started to kick in.

Next stop, the pen. With event pacers every 2.5 minutes starting from 37:30, I knew I had to beat that first flag if I was to get a decent PB. Seconds felt like hours as we jittered away waiting for the green light. Wheelchair racers and even a lady pushing a baby in a pram zoomed off first, closely followed by the 1000+ runners.

The 600M downhill start was welcome however having done this out and back race only last August I had vivid memories of how it hits hard later on.

We connected with the bypass and I could see all the DRC lads disappearing into the distance. There was a DJ and musicians every couple of K which provided a good lift and I think everyone was still feeling strong at 5km.

I soon saw Kristoff zooming back towards me on the opposite side, followed by Stu and Tom. Seeing my team-mates giving it their all pushed me on.

The course is far from a race track. The torturous long tarmac waves appeared unapologetically at 6-8k which I think are always the hardest splits in a 10k race. Things got very lonely on this stretch. I had nobody to chase or work with which was mentally tough, plus you could count spectators on one hand!

Thank god for the musician playing ‘Sweet Caroline’ just before 9km (my youngest daughters favourite song) it finally brought a smile to my grimacing face!

To cross the line with my husband, little girls and 3 of our own waiting for me was an amazing feeling.

Walking back to the car I asked the lads “Would you do it again?” and surprisingly received mixed responses.

So, you’ve left nothing out on the course, what does any runner want more than a McDonald’s? Your chip time.

It came to light that 10% of the runners hadn’t received their chip times, including Tom and Stu! A cruel nail biting wait followed until late on Bank Holiday Monday! To only be amended again 24 hours later with 4 seconds ADDED. What a mess and an emotional rollercoaster. Yes it’s only 4 seconds but as all us runners understand, every second counts.

Even with the chip drama, last Sunday was pretty awesome.

Yeah so the lady runner with a baby in a pushchair might have broken the Guinness World Record but enough about that.

DRC unleashed and it was a day I won’t forget.

I’m counting the days until I wear my vest again!