On 15th November, we headed over to Alton Towers for the RuhThrough Alton Towers 10k, and my daughter also ran the Junior Race after the 10k. We are regulars to Alton Towers with living 20mins away and having annual passes but the opportunity to get in a race around the theme part was too good to miss and even more appealing, the park is closed at this time of the year, meaning only the runners and spectators have access to the rides post race so queue times are so much shorter than on the quietest day, what more could you ask for.

This was my fifth race of the year, a year which began with no running until 16th May and in total a 7 and a half month injury layoff. I had built back up to running the Chicago Marathon a month ago, which was my main aim for this injury comeback, to get back in some kind of shape to run a marathon. This post-marathon period was just about getting back to the basics and running for fun, no time pressure put on myself and well, definitely nowhere near PB shape.

In August, I ran the Tatton Park 10k in 40:56, my slowest 10k since 2016 and with a few months of running under my belt since then, I would like to think I could go quicker than that here. That being said, Alton Towers isn’t a flat theme park; it’s not short, sharp hills everywhere, and this 10k is packed with ups and downs. Barely any of it is actually flat. Plus, factor in last night we had a big storm hit, which had blown down a lot of trees on the drive to Alton, lots of leaves on the path and sticks everywhere, it was wet underfoot and quite chilly. Let’s just say it wasn’t ideal conditions and not an ideal course for a fast time, but I did say this was about getting back to the fun of running and no time pressure, so let’s just go for it and see what happens.

10k

Splits: 6:40, 6:30, 6:30, 6:12, 6:26, 6:42, 6:19

Before starting, I had 6:20/mi pace in my mind, and as you can see from the splits above, that was just a pipe dream.

I set off at 6:20/mi for part of the first mile, but my heart rate felt through the roof, the hills running around the various coasters just spiked it all the more, and I had to back off. At this point, about 20 people passed me, and I was dropping back through the pack and preparing for a tough race.

In the second mile, as we headed out towards the back of the park and into the car park, I found I could run somewhat comfortably around 6:30 pace and was starting to pass those who had come through in the first mile. I thought that maybe they had gone off too quickly, and my decision to pull back on the pace in that first mile was going to pay off now.

The third, fourth and fifth miles are all in the car park. It’s not that scenic compared to running around the rollercoasters inside the park; there were no spectators out there, and for some, this made it tough going. For me, I train by myself, I run with no music, no distractions, just focusing on my pace and staying consistent. It is times like these in races where that training approach pays off. I get my head down and lock into the pace and chase down people in front of me.

Through those 3 miles in the car park, I closed a big gap to a group in front of me as I left the park, ran straight through that pack and pushed on, passing about 10 other people ahead of them. I was making up lots of positions and loving the challenge of chasing and passing people, racing, not time-trialling.

As we came back into the park, running up yet another hill (I’ll drop the elevation profile at the bottom of this post), one of those I was “racing” came back past me. They must have been pushing hard up the hill, as soon as we were over it and I got back to my rhythm, I went back passed them and chased down the next two people in front of me. At this stage in the race, we are all on tired legs, and those gaps are harder to close down, but I was pleased to make up a couple more places on the run into the finish. Then just had to get my head down and not let them come back past me.

I crossed the line in 40:31, in 38th place out of 2,592 and 5th v40. Despite the slippery conditions and the hills, all 446ft of them, I was 25secs faster than the Tatton Park 10k in August so that is good progress and on the road to getting back to where I was pre-injured. I think on a more favourable course and better conditions, I could be in the low 39’s, maybe dipping into the 38’s.

Junior Race

The Junior race was split into two waves: a 10 and over wave and an under-10 wave. Not enforced, but encouraged to make the run more enjoyable for all. We lined up in the over 10 wave in CBeebies land. Sienna has run 93 Junior Parkruns and is getting quicker and better at pacing herself these days, but we weren’t here to race; she just wanted the medal and to go on the rides.

It was cold and drizzling, and she had been standing around waiting for me to finish the 10k, so she was ready to get going. The Junior run starts in CBeeBies Land, runs across the front of the park to Battle Gallions, then turns across the path between the lake and the gardens, does a loop past Rita and Thirteen and finishes in front of the Towers. I clocked 0.85 miles on my watch, so it’s just shy of a mile and shorter than a Junior Parkrun.

It was well organised with plenty of kids running by themselves. The vast majority of the route has barriers on both sides, so the kids can only run on the course and not go off and get lost. Where there were turns without barriers, there were marshals on course to direct the kids. Attached to the race bibs are wristbands for the adults to wear. At the finish area, the kids are funnelled onto the grass, all enclosed with volunteers on the exits matching the kids’ race bibs to the adults’ wrist bands so you can collect them. It all felt very safe and secure from my point of view.

Sienna was happy with her medal and ready to spend the rest of the day in the park on the rides.