Lions Club of Winslow 10k

Winslow is in Bucks between Aylesbury and Buckingham and this 10K is organised by the Lions Club of Winslow.

This year it was held on a cold morning and, although the overnight slight scattering of snow was still lingering when I drove round the course before the start of the race, it had melted by time we ran it. Besides the puddles that this caused, the roads also had quite a few pot holes which was one of the points made by the race organiser before the race.

Curiously, although dry for the rest of the day, it drizzled very slightly from when we were just about to start until just after I finished.

Although my map of the route says it varies from about 85m to 113m, it felt fairly flat when I drove it. However, when I ran it, I found a long gentle incline lasting from 3.5K to 5K and another short one at 5.5K. But the cruel bit was at the end: there was a steep hill from 9K to 9.5K. Needless to say this is where the official photographer was positioned to catch all the grimaces. This hill is noticeable in my last six 0.5K splits: 2m33s, 2m32s, 2m34s, 2m30s, 2m48s, 2m22s.

My Garmin said that the K markers were accurately positioned apart from the 1K marker which was a little early. All the markers apart from the 3K marker were on the left.

The race was well marshalled: there had to be quite a few of them as there were several winding sections and a few road junctions.

The route twice goes under the railway line from Bicester to Bletchley (currently freight only) and through Verney Junction which was once an important railway junction. So when we ran pass Station Kennels I was looking out for a pretty disused railway station but found a horrible electricity substation!