One day one photo - 29: Hornsea Beach Race with East Hull Harriers

I seem to collect sports club membership like people collect stamps! I am a member of more than one cycling club, and a member of a hockey club. As for running, I am first claim at Serpentine Running Club, second claim at South London Harriers, and I am now also a member of a running club in Yorkshire which I run with when I visit my family in East Yorkshire. East Hull Harriers are a very friendly club, and they have been very welcoming when I have been up and run with them. I have done their Saturday afternoon Pack Runs, group runs in the rural villages to the north and east of Hull, and I attended their 125th anniversary club dinner earlier this year.

At the back of the pack and enjoying it!

I was really pleased to get out and do the first race of the winter handicap league, the Hornsea Beach race. When doing running races we get to run on a variety of terrains, but I don't know a time when did a race on the beach. The sand was compacted so it wasn't too hard to run through, however the tide was coming in, so there were parts where we just had to run straight through the water.

I did try as much as possible to avoid getting my feet wet, and probably ended up running further than the advertised 6 miles! Also, another small detail was that I missed the start by a few minutes as I couldn't find the steps to get down from the road onto beach. So it was a heartsink moment to hear the whistle go, and see a sea of red running shirts sail off into the distance while I was still on the road! I also felt a bit silly, once I eventually got onto the beach, being a lone runner with a race number on, and no one else around me.

Funnily enough, despite my late start I managed to catch a few of the back markers so I wasn't in last place in the scratch rankings - though I probably am on handicap.

But hey, it was a pleasant afternoon, and as ever it was good to catch up with them for the first time since May.

One day one photo - 24: Southern Road Relays

Years ago, when I took part in running races I was doing events where I would just run individually. The only relay race I recall doing were some cross country ones at a place called Horsenden Hill in Perivale, north-west London. They were traditionally the season opener.

Apart from those, the only other relays I did were sprint relays, i.e. 4 x 100 when I was at school, and then a few triathlon relays.

But it seems that relay races have become quite common now, and I find them fun. I have done the cross country one at Reigate Priory, and a road one in Wimbledon Park. There are relay races also at Nonsuch Park in Sutton, and at Beckenham, plus the Sparrows Den in West Wickham. My favourite ones though, are at Crystal Palace Park - and it's not just because it's round the corner from my home! Earlier in the summer I did the Dino Dash Relays, which is one where they raise money to restore the dinosaurs and the subway in Crystal Palace Park. That usually takes place at mid-summer, so it makes for a pleasant bright evening spent with a lot of local runners, and they keep the cafe open too.

Then today's race was the Southern Road Relays, held at Crystal Palace. That one involved running clubs from all over the south of England. At times like this I feel quite lucky to be able to just rock up at a race which is barely a 10-minute bike ride away, while others would have had to travel all morning to get here. Apparently this event is normally held at Aldershot, but it had to be relocated to Crystal Palace. Aldershot's loss is my gain, as I probably would not have travelled to Aldershot to do it! It was a lovely sunny day, and we ended up having quite a few people spectating and cheering us on - probably just by default of the fact that lots of people walk in the park at the weekends!

Anyway, it was a fun race, though I have no idea where my team finished as I was in the B-team. Our A team got a top 10 placing, which is good for the club spirit.

Note that my club for this event was Serpentine. That is my first claim club, so the default is to run for them, though I race for South London Harriers, my second claim club for the local cross country league races, and other local races where Serpentine don't have representation. It's nice to have that variety, though I do sometimes have a job trying to remember which running vest I should take to which event! Hopefully, I won't make the error of turning up at a Harriers event in my Serpie vest!

One day one photo - 2: Running race face!

Running the last leg at the relays

Not my best side, but does anyone have a best side when trying to be competitive in the closing stages of a running race?! I was part of a team of women representing South London Harriers at the Surrey Road Relays, held in Wimbledon Park. It was a nice area, and a part of Wimbledon I had not been to before. There is even a running track, which I hadn't previously known existed. It's not just all tennis in Wimbledon! You learn something new every day!

Our club fielded a lot of relay teams across various age group categories, and many of the teams won silverware in some shape or form. It was beginning to feel a bit like the SLH show at one point when the presenter kept on announcing the name of someone from our club as a winner of something or other! My team bucked the trend by not winning anything! But, despite coming home empty-handed we still had a good day!

For my part, I ran one of my fastest races over 4.5km. The time I ran it was exactly the same as what I had done in a 5km a couple of days earlier with my work colleagues at the Inter-Agency 5k run in Regents Park. That was a flat course where this Wimbledon route had a hill in it. So I clearly had a pep in my pace. 

I can only guess that running with other speedy runners such as those at SLH makes you raise your game that bit more - hence the race face! I hope I can keep on raising my game and maybe get somewhere near sniffing at a trophy (at least before I get all old and injury sets in)!