Great Langdale Herdwick 10k

We started the Saturday morning off as usual with Barrow parkrun. After his PB last week, Sam seemed to have decided to take it easy for the morning's 5km. It was just as well though as he was running with me and I was hoping to save my energy for the afternoon's run. William on the other hand absolutely flew round the course with Andy, earning himself a new PB of 45.51! Hopefully he can do it again next Saturday! 

After a quick stop at the pavillion cafe for sweets for the boys and a flapjack for me, we headed up to Great Langdale for the innaugural Herdwick 10k. We eventually found where the runners were gathering (after taking a more 'scenic' route there and some confusion regarding parking) and made it there with just under 15 minutes to spare before the start of the run. What a glorious backdrop though! 

The runners all took a short wander down the road and got into position to start. I managed to find the friendly face of fellow blogger Lakes Single Mum who I'd met previously at the Grasmere Gallop. Andy and the boys had positioned themselves in a safer spot a little further down the road to cheer me on (and as Andy told me later, William cheered on everyone who went past too - what a star) and Andy tried to get a few pics although the sun interfered with those ones just a bit!

The boys and Andy managed to entertain themselves whilst I was running, having a picnic lunch and exploring the finishing field before cheering on the runners as they came back in. 

The sun was shining and it soon felt very hot. I'd probably set off at a bit of a faster pace than I should have done but I was really pleased to have maintained it for the better part of the first 5km. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw my 5km time was 33.30, a new PB for me (previously was 36.02 at parkrun!). The course was undulating and boy did you feel it on the uphill parts! There were many lovely runners on this course offering words of encouragement which really helped. My pace slowed on the return part of the course although not as badly as I thought I would. 

 

As I approached the finish I could see Andy and the boys in the field waiting and William started cheering again. I managed to finish in 1 hour 14 minutes which is an amazing 3 and a half minutes off my Dalton 10k time! Pleased and proud of myself. And to top it off my reward was a brilliant Herdwick mug which was christened with a cup of tea when we got home. 

Another lovely day out in the Cumbrian countryside!