DAN 5k Series comes to a close

The recent Hayle Beach Run was the last in the series of new 5k races that saw a few TRCers at the start line. Claire Longman tells us what it was like to compete in the series.

Diane and Claire

2011 saw the first running of a series of 5k races organised by the Duchy Athletics Network (DAN) in which 5 different Running Clubs in Cornwall organised some 5k races, mainly off-road, and designed to appeal to new runners as much as the fast ones. In order to qualify for a medal and any prizes you had to complete 3 of the 5 races in the series. I think they would consider the series a huge success because they certainly attracted some of the best male and female runners in Cornwall, but there was a whole range of different ages and abilities (under 15′s and over 75′s) and all of the races were different, some particularly challenging (thanks Mounts Bay Harriers at Cape Cornwall!) but held in great spirit. It was a slight shame that there weren’t more TRC runners at the events but hopefully those of us who completed the series (just me, Andy and Diane) will be able to persuade more of you to join in next year.

For me, the appeal of the series was to run some shorter races and see if I could improve my speed. I had done a few track sessions on Club nights and enjoyed the variety rather than slogging out the miles on the roads. Also, I fancied some runs in some different locations and wow did we get some stunning ones!

The first race was at Stithians Showground organised by Cornwall AC on May 4th and this was the fastest race of the series for me and it was just 2 laps around the fields of the showground so quite easy underfoot, but not a particularly stunning location but different nonetheless and I enjoyed it.

The second race was 2 and a half months later which wasn’t ideal but on July 27th we went to St Austell Running Club for the Tregorrick 5k. This was a 3-lap race around the fields of the rugby club (more off-road than it sounds) and my target here was to not get lapped which I achieved! It was significantly slower than Stithians (but it was for everyone I think) but the terrain was quite tricky as it was quite bumpy grass and we were often running on a sideways slope!! Good fun but hard work to stay upright for the whole race!

I then unfortunately missed the TRC-organised race around St Clements on August 10th as I was on holiday.

On August 17th, the day after I returned from holiday, we went down to Cape Cornwall for the 5k organised by Mounts Bay Harriers. It was a fairly long way to travel but it was definitely worth it because it was the most stunning location for a race. I was quite pleased that I went down with 3 foreign visitors to our club as they were totally stunned by the location! It was the toughest race of the series along the coast path down into a valley and back up again but through the heavy breathing it was hard not to smile when you could look up from the rocks you were running over and admire the views!

The last race of the series was the Hayle Beach Run on August 24th. Again, wow what a location for a race. Nice and flat this one but the sinky sand was the challenge this time! I really loved this race, it was a nice challenge and the sort of running that I don’t do often enough. By the feel of the lungs at the time and the quads today I think it did me some good too!

I really enjoyed the series and it was nice to be rewarded with 2nd place in my age group at the end of it all! I posted a photo of Diane and myself at the start of the Hayle but it would be nicer to have a bigger team photo there next year.

Claire

• The final standings are available to download as a pdf: DAN 5k Series: standings after 5 events
• The individual race results are also available to download.