When me and my boyfriend decided to book a holiday to Australia for 3 weeks I couldn’t bear the thought of not training for that long so I decided to look for races that were being held whilst we were there. There was a 10K being held in Byron Bay on the weekend we were then and the fact it is dubbed as the “prettiest 10K” we signed up straight away.
For those of you that don’t know Byron Bay, it is a beautiful area of beaches and woodland and there is a lighthouse which is the focal point of the headland. The run promised to include the beaches and the lighthouse and started at 7am to avoid the heat.
The day before we took the bikes up to the lighthouse and checked out the course – it was a huge effort as we didn’t expect the massive hill up to the lighthouse. I knew then this wasn’t going to be a PB event!
The morning of the run we got the start for just after 6am, just before sunrise and the mist was looming over the sea. Picture perfect. Fully dressed in my Hoops we lined up at the start line and the gun went and we were off. The run took us along a park path and down onto the sand. I cannot describe how beautiful it was running on the undisturbed sand at sunrise. Then it was onto the road up to the lighthouse but my legs were heavy from the sand. The effort was worth it though as there was whales migrating in the sea as we ran around the top of the headland.
Back down the hill and we were onto the second beach Tallows beach – again this was the prettiest sight of undisturbed sand just as the sun was getting some warmth behind it. Back across the sand and we made our way back to the park for the finish line.
I completed the 10K in 49minutes which isn’t my fastest but given the hill and the sand (and 3 weeks of indulgence) I was happy with my time.
I had contacted the local running club Byron Bay Runners and two of their runners are from Consett and used to run for Blackhill so I got my photo with them and swapped our vests. They even competed in our fell race this year – what a small world!
Without a doubt the prettiest run I have ever done and one I’ll never forget.
Ria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qKmQS5WVkM
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