I’m never doing that one again: a sad goodbye to the Pontefract 10K

 

A lot of Kuhacs have run the Pontefract 10K in the past and vowed never to return because - whether you call them undulations or mounds of opportunity (copyright, Steve Sole) - there are certainly a lot of hills on that course. But now no-one will have the chance to do it as it joins the sadly growing list of events that we won’t see again.

Having done it twice before, I was keen to give the course one last try and set off with James, Craig and Rob. When it comes to getting a lift, you can’t beat finding a driver like James who know his way around both Pontefract and South Cave so that got the day off to a good start. With his local knowledge, we were soon pulling in to Tesco, just a 5-minute walk from the park where the race was due to start. It looked for a while as though Rob and I might be reliving our first visit to Pontefract a couple of years ago when we were soaked before the off.

This time, the rain never came to anything and for a few minutes as the race started it almost looked as though sun glasses would have been a good idea but after that it was overcast and warm all the way round. As we turned out of the park we were greeted by the first hill and that pretty much took us through the first K. Then from there to half way, it was undulations all the way. I was around 29 minutes at the 5K mark - so on my way to beating the hour - but as we turned the corner at half way. Yes you've guessed it, another climb.

That was pretty much the story to just past the 9K mark when we finally got a steady downhill – but by then I was too tired to take advantage of it. I turned back into the park at just about dead on the hour so the run to the finish left me at 61.43, a few seconds slower than last year – but a bit quicker than 2021. Excellent times from my Kuhac mates with Rob (48.47), James (49.14) and Craig (54.54) all performing like stars.

One big plus for the event – they let us wear headphones, so I started the run with the Doobie Brothers (Long Train Running), went through half way with Brian Ferry (Let’s Stick Together) and came up to the finish, very appropriately, with a blast of Zadok the Priest. Sadly, even with that encouragement, I never did get to do Ponty in under the hour ☹ Would I have gone back next year for another try? Of course I would!