Beat the Reaper 10k

We were up and out early today for a race for the first time in almost a month! (I know, shock horror!) Andy took part in the Beat the Reaper 10k, a Pool Runnings event held at Croxteth Country Park in Liverpool.  We arrived in Liverpool in time for the opening of registration (and very pleased we didn't get too lost on the way).

Autumn was in full swing in the park, with leaves all over the place and floating down everywhere, much to Sam's amusement. He loves sprinkling them and puts him in a happy mood. The sun was out and the weather was warm for October at about 16 Celsius but very breezy! There was a large playground on the site near to the race HQ which was perfect for keeping the boys amused until the start of the race. Crowds of runners began turning up, some in Halloween fancy dress which was brilliant. Skeletons, vampires, witches, zombies and even a werewolf showed up this morning! The idea of this run is that along the way you may find a Grim Reaper (or 14 of them) chasing you for a bit or jumping out from behind a tree!

Just before 11am, the runners headed for the start on the lawn in front of Croxteth Hall. The stereo was blaring ACDC's 'Highway to Hell' as they all set off. After a short loop around the hall we spotted Andy again at the 1 km marker then he was off! The nice thing for spectators at this event was that the race consisted of 2 laps of a 5km course, so we got to see Andy in the middle of the run as well.

We managed to station ourselves at the finish just as the first few runners had come through. The crowd at the finish was fantastic, applauding everyone who came through with lots of friendly banter and encouragement from the man on the microphone!

Andy finished the race in 54.41 so just 39 seconds short of a PB today but he still did fantastic! He came in 96th out of 331 runners and 11th in his age category. Fantastic new medal and tech t-shirt for rewards (the bag of Haribo was pounced on by William).

Andy said the run was really well marshaled, and although he got a small fright from one of the reapers who was stood hiding just around the last corner, he really enjoyed that part of the race. Well organised race in a brilliant setting. Great day out!