The second race of the weekend where Totton runners were able to bring home some bling, and some wind burn and quite possibly in some cases some hypothermia. The cold and the wind could not be underestimated as we huddled for warmth in any shelter we could find or grasped cups of Starbucks as if our lives depended on them. Heroically our Chair collected everyone’s hoodies in a bag just before the start so we could stay warmer longer and have them to hand at the finish. Rob you are a legend for this! Emily and Harry the world’s cutest dog joined Rob to make the much appreciated Totton cheer squad.
My fellow team members in the car on the way there had really sold the race to me by explaining at length it was essentially a run round a big car park….. in the cold and wind…… in Portsmouth. And yes it wasn’t the most scenic of routes but then with the strength of that wind there was lots of running with half closed eyes to ensure eyeballs weren’t blown out the back of your head anyway. What it lacked in views it made up for in speed, even with the wind against us it was a fast course. Not entirely flat but the ups being small and short and the back downs helping runners ramp up a gear. It was also a course where you got to pass runners going the other way and cheer them on, if you had the breath to shout, otherwise it was more like a grimace and possibly a wave. Admittedly there were a few sections where you couldn’t escape the wind and it felt like you were being pushed backwards but these were thankfully not too long until ducking out of the wind again. Personally I bloody loved the course, for me it had just the right amount of flat and undulation to make for fantastic PB course. And PB we did! Congratulations to Simon King, Andy Warren, Gary Melton and Rachael Gardner for smashing out a new PB!
Due to the cold this wasn’t an event where TRC were able to do what they do best and swamp the finish area in a sea of blue to shout everyone in. It was simply too cold and within minutes of finishing any residual race heat was gone and lips started turning blue. However once warm clothes were hastily pulled out the car and onto the human icicles we did return for more cheering, photo taking and more Starbucks. We had a lot of entrants for this race which was great to see. Next HRRL is the sold Out Stubbington 10k on the 16th January 2022. Followed by
Ryde 10 mile - 6 Feb 2022
Salisbury 10 mile - 3 Apr 2022
Alton 10 mile - 8 May 2022
Netley 10 km - 15 May 2022
Alresford 10km - 19 June 2022