The Orpington High Elms 10K race, held this year on 14th June, is organised by Orpington Road Runners and takes place within the stunning grounds of High Elms Country Park, which covers 250 acres of woodland and meadows. The race was described as being trail, very hilly and to add 5 minutes to your 10k race time.
Free parking was available in an adjacent field and it was a short walk into the Country Park from there. Race numbers were available for collection in the race village, and this process was quick and easy. There is a mass warm-up prior to the pre-race brief which you can participate in or not.
The race started promptly at 9:30am and off we all went, some of the old hands knowing what to expect, first timers, like me, could only guess. You hit your first hill after 300 metres. Thereafter, it is a relentless barrage of more hills, tree stumps and uneven ground. Cheerful marshals yell words of encouragement, such as; “only one more hill to go”, “you’re nearly at the top” and “it’s all downhill from here”. The mother of all hills is ‘Pylon Hill’ which hits you at the 2.8k point. This had a fair few runners walking this section, yours truly included. The final one which ascends Old Hill was, for me, as they say, ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’. I’d had enough of hills at that point, having reached the summit it was downhill through the woods to the finish line.
The course was well marshalled with two drinks stations and a guy playing live music on his electric guitar which was a nice touch.
The official results gave my category position as 2nd V70. My chip time was 01:00:18 which fits about right with the race organisers’ prediction that you should expect to be around five minutes slower than your current flat 10k time. It made a nice change to receive an Up and Running/High Elms branded neck tube instead of a medal on completion of this race.
To summarise, not a PB course but a superb location and well organised by Orpington Road Runners. I’ll definitely be back next year having put in some practice on the hills. A great tune-up race in preparation for my next race (The North Downs Run – 30K) later in June.
This was a post by guest author Jon Vann.
Please see also results from the race.
Photo of Jon Vann by Rogue Ginger photography.
