My Running Diary

This was a new one on me!

I’ve heard tales told of the Sutton Park Road Relays at Stourbridge Running Club but 2010 was the first year that I’ve run in them.

I ran the fourth stage (5.3 miles) in a six man vets team, I was very fortunate that the weather held for the first four stages giving me a cool environment to run in. Shame about the 5th and 6th stage runners… it absolutely bucketed it down with rain!

The start is very carefully marshalled with runners held in a pen until their relay partner is spotted making their way up the hill to the finish line. You’re then marshalled onto the start line and given the signal to go as your relay partner finishes.

The 5.3 mile course undulates nicely, nothing too severe in the way of hills and mostly tarmac surface underfoot. The course is well laid out and very well marshalled. A good proportion of the course is made up from a long run out to one of the park entrance gates at which point you’re turned around and sent all the way back again!

I was really pleased with my pace in this run, it was evenly maintained throughout. I think it’s time I got myself a GPS running watch though because it was difficult to judge distance over that terrain and I would’ve gone faster if I’d known how far I had to go to the finish.

The finish line appears quite suddenly after a right-hand bend onto a short but quite steep hill. Breaking into a sprint at the bottom of the hill was a bit of an error, I soon realised that the finish line was further than I thought! Still, I managed to finish well and kept my breakfast down…

Sutton Park Road Relays are a must for any club runner; Great atmosphere and a great team event, the fast course and park environment make for a really enj0yable race.