Run Preston 10k 2012

Keith OB wrote (see)

Hi Mish sorry dont know about elevation profiles just going off personal expirence and local knowledge..

Roughly the lap and and half round town has long nagging slopes then down through parks to the river very flat but then you have to go back out of park at 8k ish up hill and then back round town again to finish.

Weather not looking good either.

Hope this helps

Keith OB wrote (see)

Hi Mish sorry dont know about elevation profiles just going off personal expirence and local knowledge..

Roughly the lap and and half round town has long nagging slopes then down through parks to the river very flat but then you have to go back out of park at 8k ish up hill and then back round town again to finish.

Weather not looking good either.

Hope this helps

Thanks Keith, should be interesting 

Unlucky ET hope you up and running again soon.

Hey may even meet you one day after all times at same race

Now then toe I'll swap you your number for a number in the inskip half in Jan let me know sorry about the injury.

Good race this, slight delay in getting the numbers out to everyone but a really good atmosphere and well-chosen course.

Did this today. Well impressed with the council or parks department whichever managed to clear the path of the overgrown weeds and plants on the south side of the river and managed to drain the path by the kiddies play area which is frequently flooded. The marshalling was also excellent. Thanks to Preston Harriers, Preston Rotary and the Guild Volunteers plenty of encouragement and banter. Also thanks to Preston Council for in the most part a very well organised race. Not sure about the chaos that was the Guildhall for the number and t-shirt collection. I think I must have joined the longest queue for number collection that was after I eventually found the end of it. I felt sorry for the one girl who was dishing the numbers out in my queue. Maybe the numbers should have been enveloped with the bag number and put in strict alphabetical order so that when you gave your name the people handing out the numbers were not looking through reams of papers to find yor number and then through piles of numbers to find yours and then again through a second pile for the number for your bag. Like I say only criticism in a very well organised race. Tough course as well but I new that before I entered and glad the rain held off for the 10k. Felt sorry for the 5k runners that will have got soaked. One more thing number 31 running/walking smoking a cigarette!! I've seen runners light up after a race but never during. Totally stunned me. Along with earphones it should be banned in a race.

Eh, Judith, I think the mix of good standard runners and the tryhard smokers are what makes it the day it is, don't see what the point in trying to shame them by number is.

As my partner and  I both suffer from asthma and run as this helps improve our lung capacity as well as for general fitness people smoking is something we try to avoid. We both accept that when outside we can't avoid smokers but actually in a race it just took me very much by surprise. We just ran faster and got past him  as we do when this happens in training runs and when we see race marshalls smoking. I also think that race marshalls should wait till all runner have passed which shouldn't take that long.

DOes any one know what happened at the start with the conitena effect?

TBF I had low expectations of this race from previous experiences. I enjoyed the singer at the start of the race, and I had thought of wouldn't it be good if before the race evry year it had its's own anthem, whats other people thoughts? Once the race started very good, the marshalling very good and the route I think was better than the previous time in 2007. At least the rain held off.

Now the bad points, the queue for the race numbers was beyond a joke and surely it could have been organised better, especially for an established race. Then being told you have to pick up the t-shirt before the race. Somebody said you could pick it up at the end. I presume the start of the race was delayed because of the backlog of people getting their numbers. Went to get the t-shirt at the end of the race and was confronted by a dragon. I went to the area with my race number to be told I must queue up and spoken to as I was thick and I should have known. Needless to say I picked up an XL t-shirt for myself and the bloke behind me and a medium for my missus.

Also apologise if anybody found my language a little crude on Avenham hill or on Winkley Street as I was motivating myself to get up the hills.

I agree with most of the comments above. I found it a great day if hectic beforehand.The marshalls were the best I've knon in a race so far.

I'm injured, so had to switch from the 10k to the 5k. However, despite following physio orders to walk the hills, I still got a PB on the hilly course.

Okay, this was helped by the fact I've never raced a 5k before , but after 2 months out I'm counting it as a victory.

The smokers were very much the minority, and anyway, smoke travels upwards outdoors.

I'm personally unbothered by the inclusion of the singer and the lord mayor's show and all that: if that helps sell the day to the masses then fair enough, it's about encouraging participation.

I was fortunate enough to be ahead of the bottleneck, but I can't think how they could have got around that, where they could compensate for the width and have a city centre start.

No issue getting t-shirt after race here.

Sorry Alan! Only just seen that message. Really disappointed that I won`t be able to complete the series having missed this. Not run for a while now. Not likely I`ll be there for the half tbh, and I was in such good shape back at the 5k!

sevendaughters wrote (see)

Eh, Judith, I think the mix of good standard runners and the tryhard smokers are what makes it the day it is, don't see what the point in trying to shame them by number is.

sevendaughters wrote (see)

the tryhard smokers are what makes it the day it is, don't see what the point in trying to shame them by number is.

 

sevendaughters wrote (see)

The smokers were very much the minority, and anyway, smoke travels upwards outdoors.

 

 

Interesting views

I did this on Sunday and really enjoyed it. I had fairly low expectations as it seemed like we got the race pack information quite late, and it was always going to be a nightmare in the Guild Hall, but other than that I thought it was great. I liked that we got free parking, I thought the marshalls were all excellent and the route was challenging. My parents came and watched and they seemed to enjoy it too- I think I saw them about 4 times. The only bit I didn't really like was the turn at the end into the finish funnel as the person in front of me practically tripped me up. I can't say I noticed smokers and I got my t-shirt fine. 

Now onwards to the half marathon!