Such a perfect day

Conditions for the pier to pier race couldn’t have been much better.  Ok, the wind could have been blowing in the opposite direction, but apart from that…  

My pre-race preparation involved having a hot bath and listening to the Clash.  A healthy field of a thousand or so gathered behind the line in the sand that the organisers had drawn across Shields beach.  Those of us on the shoreline warmed up by (unsuccessfully) trying to dodge the surf.  Even at a slow pace the first mile along the sand can be energy sapping.  The race is a point to point course with competitors allowed to pick out their own route for the most part; it was impressive to see three distinct human snakes making their way down the Leas.  

The temptation in any race is to tear off, eyeballs out, at full speed.  But July’s triathlon is my priority this year, so I was pacing the pier to pier as I would any other training run.  The last 100 metres of the race in soft sand on Roker beach made any sprint finish just about impossible.  It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a run so much.  The organisers deserve the highest praise for putting on an event far superior to the Great North Run.  

And that Mars bar I was handed at the end of the race was sublime.