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Twilight 10km


Twilight is one of the most fun 10km road races I have ever taken part in. I may however be bias as

a) it is my home town

b) I know the route well and

c) it is filled with people I know racing it.

The buzz before the race is immense as we all gather in the university building. (Where above photo taken.)

The race starts off with a 5km elite race. This is totally off limits for someone like me as you have to be super quick. Super quick in this case is being able to run the 5km under 20 minutes. This unfortunately (even with a huge amount of training) is never something I will never be personally able to achieve. It is however really exciting to know some people of the local running community that are this good and could compete against some of the elite professionals who had travelled down to Ipswich to take part.

Both years I have made sure that I am at the start line to see the elites begin. The speed they whizz past is immense - creating what feels like a wind tunnel. It will not surprise you therefore that some of these athletes can complete the 5km course in around 13 minutes. Breath taking ability!

I have linked my STRAVA route here for the course in case anyone is interested.

The course takes you for two loops around Ipswich town centre. The first section of the course is relatively flat heading away from the university towards the town centre. Once you have reached Vodka Revolutions Bar you turn left towards Cardinal Park (Cinema) and meander round to the football stadium. This is fun as you actually get to run through the football stadium tunnels. Any Ipswich Town supports get a bit carried away though and there are often chants of Blue Army which tend to echo in the tunnels.

The route then takes you back towards the town centre, up a steady hill to the top of Museum Street. This is probably the hardest section of the course and hits you at five miles on the second loop. This hill however does have a nice side when you reach the top as you get to turn around and head straight back down hill into the main Ipswich Town square. Here you will be met by a lot of supporters and the samba band. Although a lot of people curse about the samba band I really do enjoy the music and it is great to run to. The samba band can be heard throughout the whole centre of Ipswich as the course winds up and down the shopping avenues. The music is a great distraction and I certainly feel it gives me a good boost to maintain speed in the last mile.

The whole course is incredibly well marshalled and the support from the crowd is electric. I certainly improved on my course time in 2016 and definitely feel that this is due to all the support on route. Next year I have plans of dipping below the 50 minute 10km. Think I will need to get some speed training in over the winter.

The medal for this course are amazing as they actually do glow in the dark. This brings much amusement as they start to glow when the sun goes down and we all head to a local pub for endless hours of running debriefs and discussions.

Believe this race is only going to get bigger and better every year! I am already booked in for 2017 and cannot wait!

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