Race Report by Yasmine Chaffer

Sunday 30th November saw the annual running of the Doncaster 10k. A fast and almost (we will come to that later..) entirely flat course that has become increasingly popular in recent years, selling out well before the event this year. The event starts at the race course, meaning runners are treated to the luxury of a proper inside space pre-race to use, which is very welcome this time of year.

Conditions were good – bright, dry and not too cold. There was a bit of a headwind on the return leg though which presented some challenges in the last mile or so. 

The route heads out from the race course into the town centre, where you do a loop round shops in front of rather bemused shoppers, before heading back past the racecourse. The last 4k is made up of an out and back with a short sharp incline at the turn around point. This comes at about 7.5k, and anyone who has ran any 10k ever will know that this is not a welcome point of the race to have a lactic inducing hill. Despite having done this race several times previously, my brain still manages to suppress quite how bad this hill has made me feel before, and I found myself surprised at how awful I felt for the last 2k having felt very strong until this point. The headwind on this part also added to the jeopardy. Luckily by this point I knew I was way under my goal time so didn’t panic too much, but I wouldn’t have wanted to have been left with lots to do in the last mile. 

This race was a particularly proud achievement of mine, as I ran my first r

Photo by Patrick Barnett

This race was a particularly proud achievement of mine, as I ran my first road PB in over 2 and a half years, finishing in 39:38. Having not raced a 10k in a long time, and after having to DNF my last race (Newark Half) this summer, I had set a goal of 41 minutes but after about 2k realised I had a lot more in me that day. I actually felt pretty emotional when I came through 5k in my quickest 5k time in 3 years after racing very badly for so long and feeling good again for the first time in as long as I can remember. 

Photo by Patrick Barnett

So a bit of a PSA here – of all the things that require you to persevere in life, getting a proper diagnosis should not be one. But sadly it can be, particularly for women, and as athletes we are far more in tune with our bodies so if you know something isn’t right please take it seriously and be persistent! 

Striders Results: