I think most Toddies were running the Golden Ball 10 miler but a few did the Trimpell 20, a short notice switch for me after Spen 20 was cancelled on Saturday afternoon due to ice and snow still being on the course. Some Googling brought up Garstang Gallop 7 as a possibility, but then I was told Trimpell had entries on the day so I headed over early for 9:30 to grab one.
Before the race I figured 6:10 was a good pace to aim for but got in to the racing a little and was moving more around the 6 mark and hoping plenty of the others ahead were on the 10 miler. After the routes had split I found myself 4th and 13 miles in, but with a small group letting me take the hit of the omnipresent headwind (how is that possible with three out and backs to the route?). They all put it in from 15 miles on and I felt a little drained but still held pace to come in 9th in 2:01:27 (though annoyingly lost two v40 places in the last 1.5 miles and was 4th in the category), not a bad run out and good prep for Manchester marathon next month.
Toddies Results
9th Andy Ford 2:01:27
233rd Sheldon Middleton 02:43:12
243rd Tom Saunders 02:44:22
315th Emma Kerwin 02:55:12