By: Brian Jenkins

Race Date: 10^th March, 2024.

Venue: Retford, Nottinghamshire.

This was race #3 of the Striders’ Road Race Leagues / Championships 2024, and so predictably it was on the “to-do” list of many Striders.

This was a race that I had never done before, but consulting with Striders who had done it in the past, I found that they had enjoyed it, and it was relatively flat. This had me sold, and I went online with my credit card to book my place on the start line.

Joining information was received by e-mail. The start was to be at 10:00 and the race numbers were to be picked-up at the school hosting the event, and there was some parking available in the school’s own car park.

I reckoned that arriving an hour earlier should provide sufficient time to claim a space in the school car park and make the important pre-race preparations (including trying not to impale yourself with safety pins). The reality was that I turned-up to the car park just as the entrance was being coned-off to traffic (it had already filled-up). Fortunately other parking was available nearby.

At the school itself, numbers were being handed out in a large hall, it was large warm and dry and provided respite from the drizzle outside. Striders congregated in a corner of the hall (drawn to the club colours) and awaited the time to move out to the start line outside.

Warning: picture may have been manipulated in Photoshop, a bit (perhaps).

The weather had been rather wet of late, but the weather at the start was not too bad, but there were quite a few puddles which provided warning of what was to come.

We were sent off, and after the usual jostling for position, runners settled-down into their chosen paces.

The route itself is a mixture of suburban and rural roads and there were plentiful warnings from the marshals to keep to one side of the road (as some of them were still open to the normal traffic).

Whilst very little of the route was particularly memorable, there were some parts that stuck in the memory. One was the road with puddles of about an inch of standing water. As always in such circumstances, the options included ploughing through and having squelching shoes for a bit, or trying to go round it on the grass which (in this race) had been thoroughly tenderised by the time I got there.

I took the path straight through the water which I thought to be preferable to inching over the slippy mud on the extremities of the mass of water (which a few runners were doing). A runner in front of me, who also chose the direct route, had the bad luck to have found a pothole beneath the surface of the water, he managed to stay upright and regained his composure.

The other memorable section is near the halfway point, an out-and-back section lasting for about a mile in each direction. It was possible to shout encouragement at those further on on their half marathon journey, and once you got to the inevitable road cone (before you get to start the journey back) you had a better idea of how far ahead they really were. Likewise runners on the return journey were more aware of who was snapping at their heels.

The route returned to the school and the finish line. Medals and bottles of water were handed out, and people headed back to that nice warm hall for the goody bag (which contained a drinking bottle) and the bag drop (which promised dry clothes).

Conditions were not too bad (other than some standing water and some drizzle) and although not completely flat, the undulations were not that bad. Surprisingly, many runners (myself and 14 other Striders included) recorded personal bests. So this is a potentially fast course.

The race was won by Samuel Roberts (Retford Athletic and Running Club) in 1:07:13 and Naomi Drakeford (Barnsley Athletic Club) in 01:18:05.

Striders’ Results: