Great north 10k

it was good to finally put on my NYMAC vest again as it's been a while since I had been in a race. I Had entered the great north 10k last year when I had ticked all the boxes when entering the great north run, whilst it's probably a race I wouldn't of entered it turned out to be a good tough race. Again this year I ticked the box to enter and then completely forgot I had until the last minute of entries, the downside of this I was given a green number which saw me placed in the third wave of starters. The positive side of being in the third wave was when crossing the start line there was a totally clear road ahead for the first 2k. The downside was catching up with the tailenders from the earlier waves and spending the last 3k having to weave in and out. The uphill finish they call "the slog on the Tyne" was a tough as I remember last year but this years warmer conditions found out a lot of runners, pleased to say I made it up all the way without stopping which I was pleased with. Overall I was happy with my run and it was good step forward to try and get back to where I was last summer.
What race is next?

Eston hills

for this weeks long run we had planned to get away from the usual rush hour traffic noise and head up  into the Eston hills. Heavy rain all afternoon meant an extra push was needed just to get out of the front door. Running from Nunthorpe up to eston nab meant nearly all of the first 6k was uphill, a nice reward at the top with a great view out to the sea at Redcar. The good thing about running so far uphill was a nice 5 mile run back all downhill. The longer distance runs seem to be going well so far.

Cleveland way relay

one of the best days on the running calendar is the Cleveland way relay event. Starting over in Filey at a crazy 5am the race follows the Cleveland way, all 110 miles of it to an evening finish in Helmsley. A team event where the distance is split into stages and a different member of the club takes a stage each. I was lucky enough to be able to run the final stage last year which turned out to be the wettest stage of the day, again this year I'm repeating the stage in much warmer conditions. My leg begins at the old Hambleton inn where I take over from Brian who like last year runs a fast leg before me. I have one of the easier legs of the whole route which means I can enjoy the fantastic scenery I get to run amongst. When entering Helmsley there's a good crowd waiting at the finish, which rather than the usual finish line is a small monument that you have to touch. Great effort by all over the day.
NYMAC had a second team in the event this year, a team of five who were training  for next months thunder run event which involves multiple legs over 24 hours. Hats off to Mark, Paul, Jon, Rich and Lucy as they looked very tired when I saw them.
Overall a great event which more members should have a go in, hopefully next year we can extend to another team?