Severn Bridge 10k
It’s been a while since I last did a proper race recap on here. So here are my thoughts on the Severn Bridge 10k.
If you don’t know, there are two Severn Bridges. They both link England to South Wales and one is the “new” bridge and the other is the “old” bridge. Its pretty cool as they close the bridge for this race. Had it not been for the rain, the views would have been stunning.
My first pre race flat lay for a long time
There is also a half marathon but I opted for the 10k as I have another half a week later.
To enable us to run across the bridge, which is actually a motorway, it needs to be closed. Because of this it meant an early start. I was up at 5:30 and left my house at 7:00 for the 45 minute drive.
I had been forewarned that the weather was going to be poor. When travelling to the race there was a little bit of rain but what was to come caught me off guard.
Once I’d arrived, luckily just making it across the bridge before it closed, I parked up and made my way to race HQ. I got chatting to a guy running the half marathon who informed me of the impending heavy showers.
The half marathon starts an hour earlier than the 10k. If it hadn’t been for the closure of the bridge I’d have left later. As it was, it meant killing time for the best part of 2 hours.
It was cold and wet. Once I’d collected my bib number I basically spent the next hour or so in-between going to the toilet and standing under a tree out of the rain.
It was miserable. The runners of the half were called early as the start was apparently almost a mile away. It seemed like they’d been gone for ages before it was even 9:00.
By the time we were called to the start of our race the weather was truly awful. Having put my coat in my bag I was soon feeling the elements. I was so cold I was shivering.
Soaking wet post race
Once we made it down to the start I managed to get a really good warm up in. It made me a little more oblivious to the conditions. Soon enough it was time to start. After a brief technical issue with the timing pad at the start line, we were off.
Severn Bridge is not flat. In fact it has a ridiculously long steady incline that seemed to go on forever. I felt pretty strong from the off but after trying to maintain the same pace up the bridge, I started to feel it. My legs felt a bit heavy which could have been the after effects of Tuesdays gym session. I also found myself blowing harder than I’d have liked.
Once the bridge plateaued, it was nice to go down for a while. The only problem with that was knowing we had to go back over it.
After a couple of tight turns we joined the half marathon runners on the bridge footpath. I’m not sure why they time the two races like they do as there was a big mix of people running both races.
As we made our way back over the bridge I took on a gel. I didn’t think I’d need it but I was flagging big time. It gave me a little kick towards the end but other than that it didn’t help that much.
Once off the bridge we navigated the motorway junction before heading back into race HQ to the finish. There was an unexpected incline in the last 0.2 of a mile but I managed a half hearted sprint finish over the line.
To be honest, crossing that line was a relief. As much I love racing, I was glad it was over. I collected my medal, which is pretty nice btw, and my goodie bag.
Decent medal
This is where I realised how naïve I had been. I didn’t bring a proper change of clothes with me and I was absolutely soaked. I was so wet, it felt like I had puddles in my running shoes.
So I put on my dry shirt and my damp coat and despite wanting to hang around to see some of the Instagram folk, I instead headed for the dry warmth of my car.
Getting out of the car park was the next fun part of my day. It took an age to get out due to idiots constantly pushing in along with other car parks emptying out. The drive home wasn’t much fun either with visibility at a minimum due to the horrendous conditions.
Overall, it was a good training exercise that let me know how much work there is still to do on my fitness. If the weather had been better my overall experience of the event itself would have been more enjoyable. Alas, we cannot dictate the weather and we were all in the same boat. Saying that, a boat might have been better for getting home!
So my takeaways from this event are –
The Severn Bridge isn’t flat and is in fact pretty damn steep.
My fitness still isn’t where I’d like it to be but as always, its a constant work in progress.
Next time there’s advance warning of rain at a race, take a change of clothes!
So that’s a wrap. Next Sunday I have Bridgwater half marathon which is my first half since January so it should be interesting.
