Blessing the rains down in Doncaster: Yorkshire Wildlife Autumn 5K
Today we took on the Yorkshire Wildlife 5K in support of the Yorkshire Wildlife Park Foundation. Organised by Curly's Athletes, this event won a gold award for best national 5K at the 2018 Running Awards. I'd heard great reports of it from friends who had taken part in the previous event in the spring and I'd been looking forward to it for months. In fact, it was a belated birthday treat for me.
I wasn't going to let anything dampen my excitement, if you pardon the pun, especially not a little thing like the weather. Runners don't mind a bit of rain. We all know that. In fact, runners love rain. It keeps them cool, makes them feel a bit hardcore. Unfortunately, what we had today couldn't really be described as a 'bit of' rain. It was one of the wettest days I can remember, a complete deluge. The rain was absolutely bouncing off the ground. I noticed a pond of ducks at the park and my husband jokingly remarked that they didn't mind the rain but, to be honest, even the ducks looked a bit less than impressed to me.
But, as I say, the weather wasn't going to spoil things for me. Anyway, it's not the actual running in rain that is a problem. You hardly notice it once you get going. Well, you do, of course, but in some ways it's quite surreal, invigorating and liberating (in a slightly mad way). But the waiting at the start line can be utterly joyless. You just want to get running, because you know you will warm up quickly, but those 10 minutes or so waiting for the off can feel like an eternity. Rory and I stayed in the car as long as we possibly could, but there came a point when we had to get out for the briefing. We were a little bit envious of those who had brought supporters with them, people who were holding massive umbrellas to shelter their loved ones as they waited for the race to start. (For a few seconds I wondered about pleading with someone to let us share the umbrella, but decided against it. Personal space and all that.) Our daughters, alas, were tucked up in bed back home and wild horses wouldn't have dragged them away. In any case, we don't have any massive umbrellas in our house. We only have rubbishy ones with broken spokes, ones that have blown inside out too many times and will never function properly again. So, there was nothing for it but to just accept we were going to be soaked before we started, but to treat that as part of the whole, 'mad in a good way' experience. The mood on the start line was jovial, despite so many people clearly freezing their butts off, but we joked, we admired costumes, we took selfies. We jumped and jigged and jogged on the spot and basically looked like loons as we tried to generate some heat. (I did spare a thought for the nudists who had run in the same park earlier in the year and I hoped that the weather had been kinder to them.)
At last we were off! It's a creatively planned route which allows you the opportunity to see a great variety of animals including lions, camels, rhinos, giraffes, polar bars and many more. Not surprisingly, today a lot of the animals seemed to be keeping under shelter. I did spot some lions and a polar bear but that was about it for me. Others spotted the giraffes but I must've missed them, probably when I was looking at the ground, trying to make sure I spotted the puddles in good time and avoided any rough ground or squelchy, slipping hazards. (The track is a bit rocky and uneven in places.) Maybe this is the kind of race where it makes sense to slow down and take in the scenery. I'm not the speediest runner in the world, but I think if I had ambled a bit more, I might have spotted a few more animals.
Puddles - it's easy to spot the rookies out there because they don't know what to do when faced with a puddle. I nearly had a collision when a couple of people stopped dead right in front of me as they tried to work out a way around a massive puddle without ruining their trainers. It makes me realise that I must be reasonably hardened (or just a big, daft kid at heart) because I run through ankle-deep puddles without a second thought. It might just be because my trainers are already knackered and quite frankly, I would welcome an excuse to bin them and buy some more, but I've realised that going round a puddle rarely works. No matter how much you try to skirt the edges, you will still get wet. That seems to be how it works for me anyway. The general rule is through it or over it, but not round it because that's when you're likely to swerve into the path of another runner, or them into you.
As races go, it's quite a nice, relaxing 5K, without any really challenging, hilly bits. The bit I liked the least was a short section over some grass where I felt very exposed to the wind and rain. I never much enjoy running on grass, always fearful of putting my foot in a hole or slipping, but I took this section quite steadily and it was okay. I finished with a chip time I was happy with. The medal was absolutely lovely and made up for me not having seen the real giraffes. There was no goody bag but a generous selection of cakes were on offer afterwards (along with a bottle of water for everyone). Let's face it, who wants a 'goody bag' filled with protein shakes and sachets of nuts when you can have a big slab of cake?
Originally it had been our hope to spend a leisurely morning into the afternoon wandering round the fabulous park, taking photos of the animals, making the most of the free pass that came with our race entry. But we would've had to be totally bonkers to have done that today. We felt bonkers enough getting up at quarter to 7.00 on Sunday morning to drive to a race that started at 9 o clock, when it was absolutely bucketing it down and neither of us had any sensible rainy-day gear on. I did have what is supposed to be a waterproof rain jacket on, but it wasn't really up to the job. When I turned out the pockets later I found not only a sodden tissue but also a glucose tablet that looked like it had been sucked for 5 minutes and spat out. Delightful! I'm just amazed my phone didn't get damp.
We had put some dry clothes in the car but I had stupidly forgotten to include some socks. Getting home, showering and putting on a pair of fluffy Primark socks was probably one of the best feelings I've experienced in a long time. (I need to get out more, I know)
I'm glad we did it. It was a well-organised, friendly, well-thought out race, very family friendly, suitable for all levels of ability. It's just bad luck that we had to get such a wet day for it, but we still enjoyed it and would most probably do it again.
I wasn't going to let anything dampen my excitement, if you pardon the pun, especially not a little thing like the weather. Runners don't mind a bit of rain. We all know that. In fact, runners love rain. It keeps them cool, makes them feel a bit hardcore. Unfortunately, what we had today couldn't really be described as a 'bit of' rain. It was one of the wettest days I can remember, a complete deluge. The rain was absolutely bouncing off the ground. I noticed a pond of ducks at the park and my husband jokingly remarked that they didn't mind the rain but, to be honest, even the ducks looked a bit less than impressed to me.
But, as I say, the weather wasn't going to spoil things for me. Anyway, it's not the actual running in rain that is a problem. You hardly notice it once you get going. Well, you do, of course, but in some ways it's quite surreal, invigorating and liberating (in a slightly mad way). But the waiting at the start line can be utterly joyless. You just want to get running, because you know you will warm up quickly, but those 10 minutes or so waiting for the off can feel like an eternity. Rory and I stayed in the car as long as we possibly could, but there came a point when we had to get out for the briefing. We were a little bit envious of those who had brought supporters with them, people who were holding massive umbrellas to shelter their loved ones as they waited for the race to start. (For a few seconds I wondered about pleading with someone to let us share the umbrella, but decided against it. Personal space and all that.) Our daughters, alas, were tucked up in bed back home and wild horses wouldn't have dragged them away. In any case, we don't have any massive umbrellas in our house. We only have rubbishy ones with broken spokes, ones that have blown inside out too many times and will never function properly again. So, there was nothing for it but to just accept we were going to be soaked before we started, but to treat that as part of the whole, 'mad in a good way' experience. The mood on the start line was jovial, despite so many people clearly freezing their butts off, but we joked, we admired costumes, we took selfies. We jumped and jigged and jogged on the spot and basically looked like loons as we tried to generate some heat. (I did spare a thought for the nudists who had run in the same park earlier in the year and I hoped that the weather had been kinder to them.)
At last we were off! It's a creatively planned route which allows you the opportunity to see a great variety of animals including lions, camels, rhinos, giraffes, polar bars and many more. Not surprisingly, today a lot of the animals seemed to be keeping under shelter. I did spot some lions and a polar bear but that was about it for me. Others spotted the giraffes but I must've missed them, probably when I was looking at the ground, trying to make sure I spotted the puddles in good time and avoided any rough ground or squelchy, slipping hazards. (The track is a bit rocky and uneven in places.) Maybe this is the kind of race where it makes sense to slow down and take in the scenery. I'm not the speediest runner in the world, but I think if I had ambled a bit more, I might have spotted a few more animals.
Puddles - it's easy to spot the rookies out there because they don't know what to do when faced with a puddle. I nearly had a collision when a couple of people stopped dead right in front of me as they tried to work out a way around a massive puddle without ruining their trainers. It makes me realise that I must be reasonably hardened (or just a big, daft kid at heart) because I run through ankle-deep puddles without a second thought. It might just be because my trainers are already knackered and quite frankly, I would welcome an excuse to bin them and buy some more, but I've realised that going round a puddle rarely works. No matter how much you try to skirt the edges, you will still get wet. That seems to be how it works for me anyway. The general rule is through it or over it, but not round it because that's when you're likely to swerve into the path of another runner, or them into you.
As races go, it's quite a nice, relaxing 5K, without any really challenging, hilly bits. The bit I liked the least was a short section over some grass where I felt very exposed to the wind and rain. I never much enjoy running on grass, always fearful of putting my foot in a hole or slipping, but I took this section quite steadily and it was okay. I finished with a chip time I was happy with. The medal was absolutely lovely and made up for me not having seen the real giraffes. There was no goody bag but a generous selection of cakes were on offer afterwards (along with a bottle of water for everyone). Let's face it, who wants a 'goody bag' filled with protein shakes and sachets of nuts when you can have a big slab of cake?
Originally it had been our hope to spend a leisurely morning into the afternoon wandering round the fabulous park, taking photos of the animals, making the most of the free pass that came with our race entry. But we would've had to be totally bonkers to have done that today. We felt bonkers enough getting up at quarter to 7.00 on Sunday morning to drive to a race that started at 9 o clock, when it was absolutely bucketing it down and neither of us had any sensible rainy-day gear on. I did have what is supposed to be a waterproof rain jacket on, but it wasn't really up to the job. When I turned out the pockets later I found not only a sodden tissue but also a glucose tablet that looked like it had been sucked for 5 minutes and spat out. Delightful! I'm just amazed my phone didn't get damp.
We had put some dry clothes in the car but I had stupidly forgotten to include some socks. Getting home, showering and putting on a pair of fluffy Primark socks was probably one of the best feelings I've experienced in a long time. (I need to get out more, I know)
I'm glad we did it. It was a well-organised, friendly, well-thought out race, very family friendly, suitable for all levels of ability. It's just bad luck that we had to get such a wet day for it, but we still enjoyed it and would most probably do it again.
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