The Linda Franks Race
Report – Susan Hunt
This is a 5 miler in Cheltenham and organised by Almost Athletes.
It is named after one of the club’s founders who sadly died in the early 1990s while in her 40s and Sunday was its 31st edition.
I’ve run it many times before for many reasons: It’s flat, well-organised, only £12 to enter and raises money for local charities.
Not surprisingly, its 300 places sell out quicker than tickets for Oasis; but happily (due to a late flurry of drop-outs) I was able to get a last minute place through the waiting list.
The 9am start is early for a Sunday race (the Race Director was apparently out setting up the course at 4am); but at least it gets it out of the way.
We were briefed in the hall at Race HQ which saved a lot of shivering on the start line. The room was a sea of purple vests – a whopping 81 runners from Almost Athletes; but mine was the only gold one (much simpler photocall).
We were escorted up the road to the start, and then we were off!
I was determined not to judge my performance against previous ones since we all know that comparison is the thief of joy and I’m currently the oldest that I’ve ever been; but I thought back wistfully to the first time that I broke 40 mins for 5 miles – which was on this route. Was I still capable of sub-8 minute miles? Not according to my recent parkrun pace (or pace at any other event distance come to think of it).
The race follows a two lap route around housing estates (you don’t do it for the scenery). There are lots of twists and turns so following the racing line involves concentration and jumping on and off the pavements. Given the earliness of the hour, it wasn’t surprising that the only spectators were a few loyal partners/ clubmates of competitors and a handful of small children standing by their front doors wearing dressing gowns and woolly hats (chanting “you can do it” in angelic tones).
I glanced at my watch after a mile – 8.20. I was huffing and puffing but the effort was manageable. For the next 2 miles I found myself on the shoulder of an Almost Athlete who was getting notably enthusiastic support from the marshals. He told me that he was 75 and hadn’t run for 3 months due to injury and encouraged me to push on (perhaps trying to get rid of me?). Suitably humbled, I pulled away from him and dug in for the second lap.
A “sprint” to the finish line and I crossed it in 39:40 – life in the old dog!
I headed back to Race HQ where there was much excitement as young whipper-snapper Jacob Cann had taken over 30 seconds off the course record, with a blistering 23:37. Sadly, he was unable to collect the award as he had gone from the race straight to work at the Up and Running shop in Cheltenham (probably in time for it opening at 10am).
Luckily for me, I didn’t need to be anywhere: the cake queue was long but worth the wait.
We were told that our race numbers give us 15% off at Up and Running for the next 2 weeks – perhaps I’ll pop in and ask Jacob to recommend some shoes.
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