Oulton Park 10k

Sunday 28th February – Report by Paul Wilcockson

Paul Wilcockson and Ian Hogg made the trip to the Oulton Park race circuit for the annual Oulton Park 10K. An email in the days leading up to the race informed us to be there early in order for the ‘double registration process’ to go smoothly! With this in mind we set off at 7 to beat the rush!!! We got to the circuit in plenty of time and found that we were amongst a handful of people who had heeded the early arrival advice and at one stage we wondered if it had been cancelled! We loitered for a fair while in the cafe watching people arrive resisting the urge for a pre-race full english and went to examine the pit area which was where the finish was located.

The event is run by Xtramile events and sponsored by Asics and I have to say is one of the best organised races I have ever done. We looked around the pits but were asked to leave as it was a ‘sterile’ environment (we must have looked unsterile in some way, pre-race nerves maybe?) Eventually race time came and it was time to walk around 600 metres to the start.

There were 402 people lined up and me and Ian got to the front in order to get a good start. I expected the race to be slightly boring as you have to do 3 laps of the track and there is 2 hilly sections. It was quite the opposite and the smooth tarmac and undulating route offered good racing conditions. The laps were interesting somehow and at one stage I was tempted to ‘get the knee down’ A la ‘Shakey Byrne’ but managed to stay upright!!!

It was a really varied field and a pretty friendly affair with a competitive element if you wanted it. I would definitely recommend this race and will be doing it each year as it was nice and safe running around the race circuit and had a novelty value. It was excellently organised also and the day went really smoothly. Both Ian and I enjoyed the day and both bagged PB’s!

Paul came in 25th overall and 3rd in the V35 category with a time of 41.55

Ian came in 33rd overall and 3rd in the V45 category with a time of 43.20