Great Yarmouth 10k – 20/03/2022

It’s taken a while for me to feel over the injury I had last Autumn and there were days when I wondered if I would be able to run again. Fortunately I know a good physio and 3 months of regular physiotherapy meant I could start some gentle running again just before Christmas. After any period of injury running again always feels harder than it used to and many of my 10k runs in the first few weeks of the new year were a mix of running and walking.
Things definitely changed for the better in the week before this race with a good run at Holkham parkrun in windy conditions and a sub 50 minute mid week 10k. I therefore lined up at the start optimistic of a good run and an opportunity to earn a club standard in my new age category.
The race started and finished at Great Yarmouth Town football and athletics stadium and after running half a lap of the athletics track we exited the stadium and headed towards the North Denes along the front. There was a cold wind blowing off the North Sea and after about 1k we made a tight u-turn and headed all the way down the front past the Britannia and Wellington piers and The Pleasure Beach. I quickly settled into an even pace and my 1k splits were almost identical for the next 6k at 4:42, meaning I was on for a time around 48 minutes.
The wind was to the side and slightly behind on the way down, which meant the way back would be tough. We ran a loop aound the industrial estate near the harbour and around Nelson’s other column, which always looks like it was built in the wrong place to me. The roller coaster at the Pleasure Beach provided a good wind break, but once I had cleared that the course was exposed to the elements and the Oasis Tower still looked a long way away. I wasn’t about to let a good time slip through my fingers though, so I gritted my teeth and dug in.
As I reached Britannia Pier with 1k to go my legs were starting to complain, but I kept telling myself it was now less than 5 minutes running and then I could then relax. We made a left turn off the front towards the stadium and then ran the other half of the athletics track to the finish. As I hit the finishing straight my watch was reading 47:30, so I had a sub 48 minute run in the bag, something which was unthinkable a few short weeks ago.
My chip time was 47:48, I was second in age category M60-64 and achieved a Gold Club Standard all of which was extremely pleasing.
Ex-Jag Jason Corner had a great run and achieved a new PB of 42:28.
After waiting for my friend Nicky to finish I headed out to the course again to watch and take pictures of the Half Marathon. It felt absolutely freezing on the front!

Name	Time	PB	Standard
Phil Henry	47:48	2nd in Age Category	Gold