Notts AC Easter 10k at Wollaton Park

The Notts AC Easter 10k is run round the grounds of Wollaton Park in Nottingham. It's a good off-road run mainly across parkland and on paths; the advantage is that there are no cars to contend with; the disadvantage is that there are pedestrians and dogs, and some of them are oblivious to runners going round the park!

It is not a pb course either. There are several sharp hills, and if you enjoy running the first lap you are sure to feel the hills the second time around. It's a well organised friendly race, though, and I did enjoy it. A total of 342 runners finished the run - one runner may not have finished because halfway round my second lap a female marshall was running round asking where a runner had fallen down - all I could do was shrug as I continued running as quickly as I could.

A bloke tripped over just behind me as well, and tumbled onto the dirt track. There were gasps of "Oh, my God!" from the few spectators. I glanced over my shoulder to see him picking himself up and carrying on.

Well, I ran just over 40 minutes, and considering the course I'm pleased with the time, though I was hoping to run quicker! As I was coming down the final hill towards the finish the crowd started to shout the name of the runner just behind me. After a quick glance around I put in a final burst, sprinted through the line, and beat him by a clear second.