Filey Beach 10k - 4 June
Report by Paul Ackerley
Whilst looking for ‘different’ races we came across this race that was completely on sand, so we decided we were up for it. A group of us went across including myself, Sarah Woffinden and Kate Todd from RRs.
The race was organised by the Filey Lions and was for charity – Martin House Hospice. It was all very low key – we received no pre-race information and so did several checks to make sure we were entered / had the right day.
The route was from Filey Sailing Club, then running south past Primrose Valley, and then turning back at Humanby Gap.
What can I say about the course? Well, it was flatter than even the Vale of York half… there were 0.5 km markers, it was well marshalled and there was interest and support from some of the people who had come to enjoy a day on the beach.
The route is run at low or lowish tide, so the course is on the relatively firm sand near to the sea. The closer we ran to the sea, the firmer the sand was, so there was a degree of technique in that.
What was of interest to us – as we chatted about it afterwards – was looking at the different shoe impressions made by different runners. These were very clear due to it being ‘fresh’ sand. There was one person who made particularly deep impressions – far deeper than anyone else. One of our group tried to match the stride to see how effective the deeper impressions were – but had to shorten her stride to match the deep impressions.
There were a few minor obstacles along the way – a couple of little streams running down to the sea, and a number of dogs which, in pursuit of their desire to get in the sea or retrieve a ball had little regard for us runners.
There were a maximum of 150 places available, but there were only 74 runners on the day (and entries were taken on the day). We had good weather, which was a bonus, and there were ‘souvenirs’ for all runners. There were also awards for the fastest 3 female and male runners – Sarah narrowly missed out by coming in as 4th fastest.
Afterwards, a couple of us went for a post run dip and the sane couple watched on; then it was off for fish and chips and trips down memory lane for one of the group as they reminisced about holidays from long ago…
A very friendly atmosphere and a run we would happily do again. And someone even kindly videoed us and set it to ‘Chariots of Fire’ (only accessible if you are on Facebook)…