Yorkshire Coast 10km Road Race & Family Fun Run. Sunday 11th October 2009.

Tracey Hudson

"I only started running in July this year.  My first 10k was the BUPA great Yorkshire run in Sheffield on 6th September.  Living in Barnsley this was local for me.
 
As soon as I saw that there was a race in Scarborough I knew that I would enter. This became my 3rd 10k race in 5 weeks.  Having secured my place I immediately started thinking about raising funds for charity and chose Multiple Sclerosis.  The reason I chose this was the fact that my aunt, who has always come to Scarborough for her holidays has ended up in a wheelchair due to MS.  Scarborough always reminds me of her and so there was no other charity I could consider.
 
I travelled up from Barnsley the day before the race and walked from the spa to marine drive.  I couldn't believe the wind as we turned around the corner at the bottom of the castle.  When I dressed for the race on Sunday I remembered the wind and put on a long sleeved running shirt under my MS Superstar Vest.  What a mistake that was.  There was no wind on Marine Drive, just a baking sun.  Whilst it made for hot running conditions, the scenery and the sound of the sea was amazing. I remember when I was struggling in the heat a boy of around 10 years old who was sat on his bike shouted 'come on 396, you can do it'.  I don't know who this boy was but I thank him so much as he motivated me to keep going
 
I managed a personal best of 1:00:59 (I'm not the fastest of runners) and hope that this will become an annual event for me.
 
Well done to everyone who organised, marshalled, gave words of encouragement and who ran the race alongside me."

Tracey Hudson

Louise Mycroft

I started running in August this year (four stones overweight) in memory of my great friend John Chapman, who died in June. John had wanted me to run the Jane Tomlinson Leeds 10k with his son and daughters, but I bottled the training and so I promised him I would run another race to raise money for cancer care.

My friend Tracey had run Race for Life in July and we egged each other on to start training over the summer, supporting each other through all the initial aches and pains. We started with the Great Yorkshire Run in Sheffield and the McCain Yorkshire Coast 10k was the third race we had done in 5 weeks. I won't be breaking any records any time soon, but I am proud to say I got a personal best of 1:05:48, nearly five minutes faster than I'd done in Sheffield.

The race got off to a brilliant start and I loved it all the way along to the North Bay, running without music for the first time so I could hear the sea. When we got to Peasholm Park the heat kicked in and so I struggled on the way back but kept plodding on over those killer cobbles - thanks to the kids on bikes on Marine Drive who shouted encouragement all the way. In the last couple of kilometres it was the marshals who kept me going (I think they could see the pain on my face), then passers-by who stopped to shout and cheer, and finally my son Fraser, my friends Amanda and Jane - and Tracey waiting for me at the end (to hold me up!)

We will definitely, definitely be back in 2010 - god willing. Thanks to all concerned for a well organised, exciting, beginner-friendly race.

Louise Mycroft
(398)

(that's me on the photo with Tracey Hudson).

Louise Mycroft (398) and Tracey Hudson (396)