Wythall & Hollywood 5k & 10K 2016

28/06/2016 Report by:  Dean H

Swift post race rapture

The Wythall & Hollywood Fun Run was a mixed distance event with a choice of running a 10km, 5km and/ or a 1.5km timed race. I arrived on time (an achievement in itself for those who know me) and picked up my race number and met up with the rest of the participating flock of Swifts. I dropped my bag off and pretty soon it was time for a warm-up.

The warm-up was a pretty high octane affair, which the Swifts joined in with to varying degrees and the whole experience was later discovered to have been caught on camera! For those who were competing in the 5k and 10k runs, which I believe was all the participating Swifts on this day, it was now time to head to the start.

After the announcer had claimed that this event always started on time the inevitable happened and there was a delay of a few minutes at the start adding to the nervous tension! The inspirational gentleman who started the race who was an amputee joked that he had a spare pair of legs back in the van if anyone’s legs were dead at the end of the race!

 It was a slow and steady start for myself so Tom, Jay and Tommy ran past me while I maintained this pace. About halfway round the first lap though I went back past Jay and Tommy. At the end of the first lap, which was the end of the 5k race but only the halfway point of the 10k race, we were greeted by an enthusiastic Swift-flag-waving Marianne who spurred us on to continue. The course was fairly straightforward on the road with some small undulations. This would suit some runners but I prefer a more meandering course.

At the finish, again cheered on by Marianne and a couple of Swifts I sprinted to the line and then collected my medal, a banana and of course some water. Geoffrey (who ran the 5K), Tom (who ran a quick race and was the 1^st 10k Swift home) and I then cheered on the others as they all finished with some inspired sprinting. We went to a local pub afterwards for some hard earned breakfast!

The best guerdon: Breakfast

Results

10k

Tom G 00:43:31

Dean H 00:46:21

Jay L 00:46:35

Tommy Hill 00:47:11

James S 00:50:37

James A 00:52:06

Christopher B 00:59:24

David G 01:01:29

Chris P 01:01:31

Emefa 01:11:12

5k

Isobel M 00:28:43

Geoffrey F 00:29:52