The 22nd Wakefield Hospice 10K race was held on Sunday 2nd April 2017, and took the same route as previous years (starting from Clarence Park, it's a linear route straight out and back along Horbury Road). The Wakefield 10K Road Race is organised for and by Wakefield Hospice, with the aim to raise as much as possible for patients and their families living with an end of life diagnosis. Wakefield Hospice annually needs to raise £4 million. They would not be able to achieve this without the help of local people going out of their way to raise funds through taking part in events like the Wakefield 10K. During the 22 years the event has been held, the runners have raised more than £0.5 million for those who need specialist care at a very difficult time in their lives. Last year those running in the Wakefield 10K did an incredible job raising more than £50,000 for the hospice. This funds a whole week's care in the hospice!
Wakefield MAG have helped to marshal this popular event for more years than we care to remember, and our role is as mobile race marshals, looking after those competitors at the tail end of the race. The roads are only closed for an hour maximum, and although the bulk of runners will be finished whilst the road is still closed, a good number of runners (walkers !!!) will still be on the course, hence the requirement for mobile marshals (that's us !!) to ensure their safety, once the road is re-opened to traffic. We are generally the last 'officials' remaining on the course, and hence play a vital role.
This year we were a little short on marshals as several of our 'regulars' had other events on, or were on holiday. However, a quick appeal for marshals on our Facebook page saw 3 volunteers readily step forward - Well done for stepping into the breech Mark, Phil and Michael !!!
Seven of us assembled at Clarence Park in Wakefield at the ungodly hour of 08:30 (on a Sunday !!!) to support Wakefield Hospice with their 22nd 10K run.
The Wakefield Hospice 10K is a big fixture in the running calendar, attracting seriously good runners, as well as being the major fund raiser for the Wakefield Hospice.
We left the start area at 08:50 to take up position on the course, leaving Justine behind so she could join the back of the race and be a very visible 'back marker'. The race started at 09:00 and it wasn't long before the lead runners came storming past us.
The bulk of the runners then passed, and then it was our cue to spring into action to marshal the tail enders.
The winner of the race (Joe Sagar of Spenborough Athletics Club) finished after 32 minutes and 57 seconds, and the fastest female competitor (Becky Rigby of Preston Harriers) finished after 34 minutes and 47 seconds ... impressive stuff.
After about 45 minutes traffic was being progressively allowed onto the road, so we took it in turns to ride the course, park up and observe and make sure the runners/walkers were safe.
The last pair to complete the run were Zoe Spedding and Chris Bailey, who Justine acting as back marker brought home after 1 hour 41 minutes and 50 seconds (a full 15 minutes faster than last place last year, so we got to finish early this year !!!!).
The 10K had been a most successful event, very smooth in operation with no issues (just the way we like it). There had been a record enrollment of runners this year, so it should have been a bumper fund raiser for the Hospice. It is great to be able to support our local charity in a non-monetary way, and in a way which is so very useful to them.
A huge thanks to Steve, Justine, Mark, Chas, Martin, Michael & Phil for helping to marshal this years race, and for the very early Sunday morning start. Well done everyone !!!!
More details of the event here: www.wakefield10k.org.uk