David Currie

446Over breakfast yesterday, Christine finally decided that she would run in the Hursley 10K later that day. This is a new event being held in aid of the local school, with the course taking in part of the Hursley Estate along with Ampfield Woods. There was a good atmosphere on arrival and the race had nearly hit its maximum of 400 competitors. I was originally a bit concerned about how the narrow woodland paths would cope with these numbers but there was a rather convoluted route around the field and then an estate track before the course narrowed down. This also gave Emma and myself a couple of chances to spectate before the runners disappeared in to the woods.

I couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a quick peek at the Estate which is normally out of bounds on lunchtime runs but had to rush back to see the winner returning in to the finish field. Christine was second lady although some four minutes behind.

As I was heading back towards the finish area, a guy tripped and fell but then struggled to get to his feet. He then swayed along for another twenty metres or so before collapsing again. He looked absolutely gone and when I went over I had to try and stop him from getting up again. A few minutes later, just as he appeared to be slipping out of consciousness, I was fortunately joined by a GP and surgeon (competitors in the race) and then the Red Cross first aiders. (My expedition first aid amusingly expired the day before!)

Luckily the guy did stay with us and it wasn’t long before he was trying to get up again to finish the race! We practically had to carry him the last 150m though before he then collapsed once more. Someone found an energy gel to feed him though and this seemed to help greatly. One of his mates then took my place as back support and I was free to go and see Emma and Christine.

449An ambulance had been called for when the first aiders originally came on the scene but it wasn’t until half way through the prize giving that the Hampshire Air Ambulance appeared and began circling the field. It eventually landed close to the school in a cloud of straw chaff. It seems faintly ridiculous to use a helicopter when the site is about ten minutes along the road from Winchester A&E but never mind.

That excitement almost made up for the fact that, not only did Christine not get a prize for second place, but we also failed to win any of the large array of spot prizes they had on offer. Still, the race seemed well organised (bar an extra dogleg the lead cyclist apparently added to the course) and I’d certainly be tempted to enter if it is run again in future years.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.