On a cold early Sunday Morning 20 runners arrived at Southampton Docks to begin their trip over to the Isle of Wight for the Ryde 10 Mile race. Everyone got out of their cars, grabbed their morning drinks and had a lovely social catch up. This was our biggest turnout for this race for a very long time! The ferry had arrived so we decided to get in our cars and then patiently board the ferry to begin our adventures.
We took the incline of steps up to the deck (the 1st of many inclines) where we found a series of seats and claimed them as our base for the trip. The first thing on everyone’s mind was to sit down and relax - on Tony Lee’s mind it was grabbing that breakfast bap that he was craving this morning. The boat had set sail and we were on our way to Isle of Wight..
We arrived at the venue, collected our race numbers and stood in the freezing car park for the team photo. Huge shout outs go to Tony Lee’s for an amazing time of 1 hour 15 minutes and Virginia Collins for placing 2nd in her age category. Today's run report will be a special one as we had 5 runners taking part in their first ever Ryde 10 Mile alongside me returning to racing after a long term injury.
Here is what they had to say about their adventures across the sea:
Louise Henning: “Loved Ryde 10m, route was stunning and thoroughly enjoyable despite the hills and it was seriously hilly!!!! I’m feeling those hills still in my thighs 48 hours later.
Fantastic TRC atmosphere from the ferry terminal on the mainland to fish and chips on the Isle la Blanca. Excellent navigation by Mr Barlow Snr - TRC were an absolute hoot, it was by far the best club jolly outing, I’ll be signing up for next year!!!!!!”
Carly Lucas: “A few words about Ryde 10… So on the promise of a day out with my running buddies and a finish line fish and chips supper I naively booked Ryde 10 . When I was warned it wouldn't be a PB course and there is a few hills they certainly weren't joking. So with every down there appeared a very large up hill section, you know the saying what goes up, comes down Joking aside and singing the manta "we love hills" I dug in deep and actually quite enjoyed the 10 miles the Ryde 10 had to offer. I particularly enjoyed the last 1k all downhill so you look super fast coming into the finish line, thank the lord for Jacquie acting as a superb Marshall saying onto the pavement. Only for Rob to miss my finishing debut, but it's ok I did a retake when the finish line was empty and got a smiley finish photo. What a great day out with friends, ferry , running, fish and chips and a beer on the way home. A perfect Sunday racing ”
Sophie Coady: “So my thoughts on Ryde: having not done the race before or even been to the IOW much at all in my life I was very excited for the whole event. I enjoyed getting the ferry across which made it feel like a mini holiday, the sun was shining beautifully which put everyone in a very positive mood, and the whole atmosphere was enjoyable. I was very tight from the previous weeks CC6 where my shins hurt a bit and I hadn’t run all week so was a bit apprehensive about racing but Virginia gave me some deep heat which relieved it thankfully. The race itself was very cold to begin with despite the sunshine and after we all stripped off at the last minute I soon warmed up when we hit the first hill. I ran comfortably for the first half having yourself and Patricia in my sights and the scenery took my mind off any running niggles I might have had. My favourite part of the race was when we ran past St Helens because it was right near the sea and then along the front. My least favourite bit was running up the never ending zigzag hill through that campsite. I was glad it was over half way by that point though! I stopped to walk at each water station because I can’t run and drink at the same time, so that gave me the little rests I needed to finish. By mile 8 I was starting to flag a bit but Jacquie ran past me and shouted motivation back to me up the final hill. I managed not to stop on any of the hills (having had a talking to in the car on the way here by Jacquie and Virginia) despite probably running slower than I’d have walked up them. I was thankful that the last leg of the race was downhill to the finish line so I could save some energy for the sprint finish. A delicious (yet expensive) fish and chips and boozy ferry ride home finished off the day wonderfully!”
Mel Green: “Ryde 10 mile..... Thank you to everyone of you, we had a fantastic day. I think I was more excited about a kid free day and hadn't given the running part much thought! (Along with the gels that were still sitting in the kitchen, thanks ladies for scrabbling around for some spares!) Despite the monstrous hills I thoroughly enjoyed it. I lost count of the hills but the holiday park and the last one seemed to be the most challenging. Thanks to Mike for the chatter along the way and keeping me going. Mandy for her encouragement up that last hill my legs honestly felt like they were burning. Jackie the marshall I was running so fast down that hill I had no idea where I was going! Andy for collecting all our coats before we got back.
After all the excitement we headed for our well deserved fish and chips and the beer on the ferry heading home with full bellies and feeling a little sleepy!
TRC friends you were all fab! We had such a great day and thanks for making the hubster feel so welcome... Lots of things made me laugh and smile and just having a day off from the norm! I think that's what everyone needs once in a while!”
Tanya Davis: “I decided to enter Ryde 10 mile this year for the first time as it fitted in quite well with my London marathon training plan. I soon realised that it was a popular one with the club and there would be fish and chips to look forward to after!! Before race day I had heard the mention of a few hills and it being a tough race, so I decided that I would just take in the views and think of the miles on the legs! Race day came and the weather was glorious, if not a tad cold off we went and i soon met the first hill, I decided to give it a go running up it and actually felt ok the next few hills came and went and then the caravan park! I was told this was the worst bit, so once that was done I relaxed and chatted to the other runners and actually enjoyed the peacefulness of the race and the views. Towards the end I could see Teresa in my sights and tried to catch up with her at the last downhill 1k ending with a sprint finish!! I didn't quite catch her but I thoroughly enjoyed the whole race and was so surprised that I ran all the hills!!!! Fish and chips and a beer on the ferry going home ended the day perfectly. I'll definitely be back next year!”
Robbie Barlow: “I have done this race many times but this one was going to be a real test for me - after being out injured for 2 months and only ran a max of 10k at the time it was going to be a challenge. I didn’t have a time in mind but just to finish was the main goal. I stood by everyone at the start, posed for some cheeky photos but deep down I was really nervous. I had the honour of running with Patricia which we agreed to run this race together a few weeks ago. At the start of the race Trish knew that something wasn’t right with me so she came up and said “don’t worry about what happens today, the main thing is for you to get round” After hearing that I had nothing to worry about. The race had started and the 1st of many hills had begun. The miles clocked down with the beautiful scenery and weather on either side of us and we took in the race atmosphere”.
“We approached the beach huts where we asked the locals if there were toilets nearby as we needed to make a quick “pit stop” . The caravan park had started with the zig-zag hills with an uphill incline thrown into the mix. The next few miles were downhill and flat with wonderful views of the sea added in.. then came the last hill between mile 8 and 9. I mentally psyched myself up for this and started to run up and count 1 to 10 in German to distract myself from the incline. 2 things happened - 1. My German started to turn to French and 2. Men can’t multitask. The hills were over and it was all downhill. We approached the finish line where Trish used all her enthusiasm and said “RUN ROBBIE RUN!!” to get me over that finish line. With no pain at all I was really happy at the end. With chips at the cafe and a cheeky cider on the ferry back it was the perfect way to end the day!” I will learn to smile and wave when I next see a camera haha
Who can't forget the chips and cider at the end right :) Thank you for reading the run report!
Captain Robbie :)
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