Vogrie and Tyne Valley Trail 10K

A map of the 5K loop

I've mentioned that I "sometimes" need a bit of a kick up the backside to put some effort into my running and so have to find something that makes me answerable. Some people are very good at going out themselves and doing a tempo run or a hard interval session, but I know that I would find it rather easy to stop/back off when the run becomes uncomfortable. I need to inject a bit of pace (relatively anyway) into my running these days, and so when a friend suggested a trail 10K race that she was doing, and I happened to have been staying with some friends just down the road from it the night before, it seemed ideal!

Race goodies

Vogrie House (on a better day!)

Ok, so it seemed less than ideal on the morning of the event, as my friend messaged me to say that she wasn't going to make it....and the weather didn't look that appealing out of the window (cold, grey and windy.....but on a positive note, not the forecast rain!) but I'd paid my entry fee so I might as well get on with it. It seemed a popular event judging by the number of cars pulling into Vogrie Country Park (there was actually a 5K, the 10K and a children's 1,6K race), but everyone was rather rugged up as they wandered down to registration (I was wearing a tshirt, 2 long sleeved tops and a coat and still found the wind bitingly cold). Doing a "warm-up" jog didn't help that much, but whilst sheltering in the toilet block (I loved the hot air hand-dryers!!) another girl told me that she'd checked out the route and most of it was in the trees and so sheltered from the wind, so I stripped down to tshirt and shorts and ducked into the starting pen.

Up the first hill with the "crowds"

The tree-lined alley

The 10K runners were set off 5 minutes before the 5K, which actually seemed quite a small gap as the faster 5K runners would rapidly catch the 10K tailenders, and quite possibly have to overtake the whole field during the course of their 1 lap race (the 10K was two laps of the same course). The usual rush at the start was quickly stretched out as we headed straight up a hill, but then we joined a narrow path which meant no overtaking was possible (though I managed to duck past a couple of runners by veering off into the mud). A marshal directed down an alleyway of intertwined trees which would have been beautiful on a sunny day (admittedly there was little time to appreciate the aesthetics as you tried to avoid roots underfoot and low branches overhead), then it was along to a u-turn through a gate. I made the most of the short stretch of grassy field to gain some more places before we entered the woods again. 

Stunning scenery

We were quite sheltered from the wind in the woods, and although the  narrow trail wound steeply down at first, it soon widened out so that you could get into your stride unhampered by other runners. As usual, I'd started conservatively (ie slowly) and so had been passing people up to this point, but after a couple of minutes of hearing breathing on my shoulder a man did run past. It was interesting to see my strengths and weaknesses by watching him and the man ahead (who we both gradually hauled back). I was stronger on the flats and uphills, but they were much better on the downs, especially the steeper ones with muddy/leafy corners. 

Running up that hill!!

At the briefing, they had said that the first half of the lap (round Vogrie Country Park) was the fast half, and this was definitely the case, but I think I actually preferred the second half. We dropped down into the Tyne Valley, crossing a couple of bridges and slippery boardwalks and then wound our way along the water on a narrow, muddy, rooty, but pretty trail. Another marshal warned of a slippery bridge and hill beyond - and it certainly was a lung-buster....not too long but steep enough to hurt (and let me close back up on the guys). The downhill afterwards was steady enough for me to pass one of them and then we got to the final km of the lap!

What a final kilometre - most of the climb occurred here....initially a steep path zigzagging up the slope that then became steps as it steepened further. A few flatter metres gave you false hope as you had further to ascend. I finally passed by my original overtaker on this climb, but when I saw a it was a steep drop to a bridge over a creek I figured he'd fly by again. Luckily it was too short for this to happen, as the final push was the toughest yet. I topped out to catch my breath on a relatively flat run back to the starting field to do it all again. I though that the second lap might be rather lonely as there was no-one in sight ahead of me (and I'd not heard the announcer calling anyone through before I got there, so I figured they were all away and gone a long time ago) but at least it meant that I could run my own pace......as long as I could convince myself that I was still "racing"!

Catching up/lapping some 5K runners

Into the finish...

By the time I was on the second lap, there were people out with their children (some supporting family members in the events but others just enjoying the park), walking dogs etc so it "kept me honest" (ie running) as they were all very friendly and supportive. As I got to the end of the waterside stretch I caught the last 5K participant and so although I didn't spot another one until after the first climb, it then gave me a bit of a focus to keep reeling them in, as I could encourage them in the passing as much as they could me. As I was still very much running, and several of them were walking, they would kindly move to the side of the path and give me space. Having done a lap already, I could be quite accurate in my encouragement, especially when they really were on the last climb. It was kinda tempting to walk that last steep one, but I didn't want to "lose face" in front of those 5Kers that I'd just caught, so I made myself keep going, knowing it was short and that the final top I could see, really was "the final top".

"Prize"-giving

A nice run into the finish and I could collect my finisher's buff and banana, put on extra clothes and do a little cool down. Times are rather irrelevant for trail races, which are often approximations of distances, but I think that my finish time was not much more than twice what I'd seen when glancing at my watch as I started the second lap, so the fact that it was a race had kept me from slowing down much, despite wanting to in that last kilometre. It was only when I saw the results later that evening at home that I realised that there hadn't been that many people in front of me after all - they were just so far away that I'd never seen them!