2.5k to run
3 of my friends guaranteed to be there
Less than a mile from our flat
£7 to enter

Everything about the Race Organiser’s Clissold Park 10k Relay sounds perfect, and it was!

Starting not too early on a Sunday the race is 4 x 2.5k loops of the park. Mostly flat and fast it’s a great race to get your legs moving, and judging by the results (13/14 teams sub-50) that was what everyone was there to do.

At the start we got our race bibs (with Team Names on them!) and the mighty baton to get our team around the course. After a quick warm up, the first runners lined up and were off.  As the first runner on our team I wanted to keep us in a respectable position. Everyone flew off the line. I was the last person right from the start as people started out at what must have been world record pace. Slowly my ultra legs started to warm up and I passed a group of 3/4 on the first corner (run the tangents in a speedy race!)

2.5k is a long way to run. It’s a sprint and a long one. It made me think back to the mile championships with my club with fond & easy memories (it was neither).

With the classic spit bubbles forming around my mouth I came up to the handover and the girl in front of me who I’d been slowly gaining on all lap – went the wrong way! I just overtook her at the line and passed the baton to Alex using our carefully practised* technique

*twice about 5 minutes before we started.

Doubled over on the infield with the other runners I caught my breath and wandered over to the 1/2 way watching area. Alex kept up our position with the fastest lap of the day and then passed over to Jen who took off on what can only be described as a lap of honour. After being in Cardiff for the All Blacks semi-final the night before and getting back to London at 4am, her and Callum were sweating cider and heroes for showing up.

Callum’s last lap started after the first team had finished, an absolutely speedy all-men team just over the 31 minute mark. Impressive, but can’t help to think half their team wasn’t in Cardiff last night.

We came home second mixed team (I think or at least the second team with equal male/females) and scoffed our goodybag haribo, recovery bar, and juice on the way to recovery brunch. Relay race rules may dictate we share the race distance, but we each ordered our own full brunch. Huge portions and great food at The Parlour in Stoke Newington.

The Clissold Park 10k Relay is a great event and everyone should sign up for next Spring. It’s fun, fast, good for people looking to race with friends, and dare I say, if you are an all female team, you may have a good chance in winning, only 1 female team entered this one!