Hamstreet 10k race report
The official website said “The course will be run along quiet country lanes and we’ll be looking to set a flat or slightly undulating course to enable some fast times to be posted.”
Hmm, nice, I thought.
But…
The Runner’s World page said: “A first-time race around the tracks and trails around the village of Hamstreet, and, primarily, through Hamstreet Woods.”
Run Britain called it ‘Hilly’
Hmm, I thought. Who is right? Surely, the official website?
No.
THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE WAS LYING ITS LITTLE HEAD OFF! BAD OFFICIAL WEBSITE! BAD BAD BAD!
It was muddy and hilly and hilly and muddy and muddy and hilly and hilly and muddy and, well, you get the picture. This picture, in fact.
You can see from my splits that the hills may have slowed me down a tad.
I’m glad the official website was wrong though, as it was great fun and definitely a challenge, as I’ve never run that far through woods before.
Unfortunately, it proved to be a touch too challenging for one poor chap who I passed as he was lying on the ground being attended to by marshalls (who tried to block my view of him; I wasn’t being a vulture, I was making sure it wasn’t Shaun [who passed him on the course and upon seeing he was in trouble tried to help him]).
Shaun was there to meet me just before the finish line and told me to give it one last big push but I had nothing left in me and I shuffled around the lap of the field and to the finish line where I was given a generic medal
instead of one engraved with ‘Hamstreet 10k’ on the back of it. Presumably they’d run out of those by the time I finished. They’d also run out of goodie bags too, but apart from those two minor points and the major point that the official website described the route in a way they couldn’t have got more wrong, I went home weary and happy and headed for the pub for lunch.
Stats
Distance: 6.25 miles
Time: 1:15:41
Pace: 12:07 m/m
Calories: 628
Lying official websites: 1
Hills: All the ones in the world ever
Flat bits: None
Mud: Lots
Generic medals: 1
Roast lunches: 1
Boats of gravy: 3
How on earth can an official website get it so wrong. You sound really ok with it though. Well done it does sound as if you kind of enjoyed it and that lunch looks yummy
The race had been done before, but this was a new route (Shaun found this out after he’d finished). I assume they didn’t update their web page to reflect it was in the woods and not on the lanes this time.
Tut, you can’t trust anyone nowadays! Brilliant post Cathy, very funny and interesting too. Glad you saw the cup as half full, and rose to the challenge. Talking of rising to challenges, thanks for getting me to go for Juneathon… if I live to the end of the month, it will have been worth it!
I’m looking at it as a great training run, all those hills must have done me some good. Glad you’re enjoying Juneathon!
Well done for making it round! I think I would have given up rather quickly an probably been found by an archaeological team excavating the mud in hundreds of years time.
I LOVE your stats at the end! Lying official websites & 3 boats of gravy, HA! Your chart captions made me laugh too. I’m glad I don’t have an electronic device to actually show me how slow I am on hills. I did a muddy race yesterday & also loved the scenery. Scary ’bout the chap on the ground tho 🙁 Hope he was alright.
The organiser’s Facebook page said today that he’s made a full recovery, which was good to hear.
Sounds like a great race.
Sounds fun! Did you wear your bling to the pub?
Lol!
Sounds like a fab run. Hills are good for the soul remember ? When I have a really hard race I always think about that race in easier races and remind myself that it could be hurting even more. Well done.:o)
Sounds fun…and a medal…that doesn’t happen very often at races…well not for the ones I sign up for.
I wasn’t expecting the hills either! Very fun though! It was my first 10k, so glad to have that under my belt
P.s. I wore my bling all day 🙂
Loving that roast dinner !
I am Race Director for the race so I’m pleased you enjoyed the race.
So, how did that course description get on to the website? In short, I have no idea!! When we first announced the race, we were looking into using the lanes around the village. However, it soon became obvious that we wouldn’t be able to do so – and so we decided a race in and around Hamstreet Woods would be more appropriate. So we have always known that the race was more challenging than a flat race and our website was amended to reflect that. The page you have seen is an old page – and I have no idea how it resurfaced!! You’re not the first person to point this out to me this morning – so there are some big red faces here!! We did though describe the race correctly on all our email bulletins – and so I think most people were aware.
I think too that most people seem to have enjoyed the race. We were a little overwhelmed by the numbers registering on the day – 30% of the field were on the day entries which is a substantial proportion. As a result we did run out of Hamstreet branded medals – but we have ordered more today and these will be available soon. Medals are an important part of the race experience and I absolutely understand why runners want the ‘proper’ medal. I’ll be announcing this in our results bulletin which will be emailed tomorrow.
It was quite a difficult day in one respect with the incident with the collapsed runner causing distress to many of those taking part. Thankfully he has now made a full recovery.
Once again thanks for joining us at Hamstreet – hope to see you again!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Martin. I did enjoy the race, despite not expecting the hills but I need all the hill training I can get, with Folkestone Half coming up in September, which ends on a massive one.
We were surprised at the length of the queue for entering on the day and were part of it, so sorry to add to the burden!
Well done for a well organised race and I’m glad to hear the collapsed runner has recovered.
This was an excellent race. Only my 2nd race. Slightly more challenging than I expected, but excellent all the same. It seemed very well organised. The marshalls did a good job and offered encouragement when it was very much needed! The spectators were very encouraging also. The atmosphere was good and it was good for familes, with the kids race. I loved the the English country village feel by having about 30 homemade cakes in slices ready for runners at the finish! That was awesome and scrummy!
Well done and I hope this race continues next year so I can beat my time!
Hi..my first official 10k and I thoroughly enjoyed it!! It was a challenge and yes it was muddy, but that added to the event! – a really lovely atmosphere and definately an event enjoyed by the whole family. I will definately be doing the Hamstreet 10k next year (and thank you to the Hamstreet mum’s for baking those yummy cakes!).
Ridiculous at best. Lying at worst. In general, the organiser’s website is the least reliable. Always upgrade the hillIness. If undulating, then it’s hilly.etc. Reviews from websites like runners world much more accurate.