jamjam, i was thinking of doing this run, its close to home and I can only think of one big hill in wimbledon (tho I suppose we could run up it several times!!) I'm a slow plodder, resemble more of a bulldog than greyhound
I did the last event and the weather was terrible, it absolutely poured to the point you could not see 10 meters in front of you.
However it was very well marshalled and the hot tea on sale at the end was very welcome. Its a very fast route and apart from Wimbledon Hill the route is very quick.
Hi, This was my first 10k race about ten years ago so its always a good benchmark test for me to see how better (worse) ive got. Its a good course and theres always a mix of running abilities. Thankfully you only have to run up the hill to Wimbledon Village once!. The rest is a fast route which is well marshalled.
It's a good one to start with. For those who havnt done it and need some encouragement heres what I remember about it.....
Start: leaving the rugby field the first few roads are a bit crowded but once you get towards the end of Coombe Rd into Raynes Pk the field will spread out. This part of the course is all flat, as is Worple Road which takes you towards Wimbledon.
The middle: Wimbledon Hill - tempting to wait for a 93 bus here, but once you get to the top and go thru wimbledon Village you have the satisfaction of knowing u are about half way and the rest is flat/slightly downhill. After the Village u go across the Common and past the Pubs on the edge of the Common 'The Crooked Billet' and 'The Hand In Hand' - these should closed when you pass !.
The End; The back streets of Raynes Pk are then slightly downhill and you eventually get back to Coombe Lane for the last 2k-ish. the finish is on a downhill slope on the rugby field so if you have any energy left its a chance for a sprint finish.
there is normally someone doing engraving there so take a few quid if you want your medal etched with '1st place'.
hey, this might sound like an odd question but.. do you have to get sponsored to join in this race? i did the grim challenge in december for charity and tbh don't fancy asking all my friends and family for sponsor money all over again... anyone know?
am thinking of trying to get my 15 year old to run this (he is a runner and usually 15 is the age limit for 10k) but I guess I'll have to contact the race organisers to check
I have entered for this one, done it in October, I didn`t enjoy the hill but I`m still doing it again, and hopefully improve my time by a wee bit, and I`m not a serious runner but doing it for charity, so I`ll finish it.
There are a lot of roads you have to cross - too many in my view. The Stewards do an excellent job, but it doesn't make for good relations with all the cars in a rush.
The good news was my first sub-45 minute 10k run of the year (in fact 18 months)and the lovely spring morning following a drenching at Berkhamsted last week. The course is pretty good apart from the hill, but what happened to the distance markers!!!??? I ran with a Garmin and the first km marker appeared at something like 1.4km. I think I missed 4 and 6 and then 7km was at 6.85km... didn't really matter that much, but it was confusing and not everyone has a GPS!! please tell me my GPS wasn't wrong!!
I agree. Got to 1K in 7 minutes and nearly gave up there and then. At 7k I was on for a pb. Finished in just over 53mins which was about what I expected!
Regretably, I agree with Richard about cars etc. I live in this 'neck' and the locals seemed extremely unhappy about car parking and people running on the roads. With affluence does not necessarily come tolerance I am sorry to say (in fact it appears to be the opposite).
We will sort out the problem with the markers for the following races. Sorry for the disappointment. Any other suggestions and comments are very much appreciated on how we can improve the race for our runners.
Comments
i was thinking of doing this run, its close to home and I can only think of one big hill in wimbledon (tho I suppose we could run up it several times!!)
I'm a slow plodder, resemble more of a bulldog than greyhound
However it was very well marshalled and the hot tea on sale at the end was very welcome. Its a very fast route and apart from Wimbledon Hill the route is very quick.
Its a good course and theres always a mix of running abilities. Thankfully you only have to run up the hill to Wimbledon Village once!. The rest is a fast route which is well marshalled.
Start:
leaving the rugby field the first few roads are a bit crowded but once you get towards the end of Coombe Rd into Raynes Pk the field will spread out. This part of the course is all flat, as is Worple Road which takes you towards Wimbledon.
The middle:
Wimbledon Hill - tempting to wait for a 93 bus here, but once you get to the top and go thru wimbledon Village you have the satisfaction of knowing u are about half way and the rest is flat/slightly downhill. After the Village u go across the Common and past the Pubs on the edge of the Common 'The Crooked Billet' and 'The Hand In Hand' - these should closed when you pass !.
The End;
The back streets of Raynes Pk are then slightly downhill and you eventually get back to Coombe Lane for the last 2k-ish.
the finish is on a downhill slope on the rugby field so if you have any energy left its a chance for a sprint finish.
there is normally someone doing engraving there so take a few quid if you want your medal etched with '1st place'.
There is a bar if you need alcohol later.
anyone know?
Should be a laugh and the Hill is something to look forward to.
(Fortunately my chip seems to have survived the unfortunate gel explosion:-))
Markers were a huge disappointment - however got a pb, so not too annoyed...
Sorry for the disappointment. Any other suggestions and comments are very much appreciated on how we can improve the race for our runners.
Marlo Kinnear
E x