Bourton 10k 2023

The other day, I ran the Bourton 10k, a very popular local race. I don’t run 10ks – I’ve only run one before, the Gloucester 10k in 2021. I ran that in 48:17 and thought I would be happy with anything under 50 minutes for Bourton. I have no problem at all with the distance – I do one 6 mile (basically 10k) every week and one 10 mile run at weekends, but I have no idea how to pace a 10k.

The Bourton 10k is so popular, it usually sells out in under an hour. My husband ran it in 2019 and my eldest ran it in 2020. It was my sister who encouraged me to give it a go this year. I wasn’t even sure I could be bothered, because of it selling out so quickly. But it was the easiest race to sign up for ever! So my sister, brother-in-law and husband all arrived at the start line on a sunny, but very chilly February morning.

Bourton-on-the-Water is a very picturesque Cotswold village. It attracts tourists from all over the world. And the 10k attracts runners from across Gloucestershire and the Midlands! Nearly all of the runners are club runners, but none of my family are club runners.

I decided that the best way to pace it was ‘run like I’m running a parkrun and keep going as fast as I can for as long as I can’. Generally, that’s not a recommended way to pace a race, but I thought it would be OK for me.

The four of us lined up around the middle of the pack – well behind the really quick looking club runners. The race starts with two little laps of the centre of the village, which is very scenic and has really good support.

The race started and my husband was off like a shot. He’d realised he was stuck behind people who were a bit slow and I soon realised it too. So I started to weave around them, but my husband had already vanished from sight. On the first lap round the village, my brother-in-law got in front of me and my sister even briefly caught me up.

After the two laps, the course runs out of the village and along a long road, which is very slightly uphill all the way. There are km markers, so you can keep track of how you are doing.

I very nearly caught my brother-in-law up, but couldn’t quite catch him. He was literally the person in front of me, about two paces ahead, but I couldn’t catch him and I couldn’t speak to him. Eventually, after sitting on his shoulder for about 2km, I overtook him. Then I spotted my husband in the distance and started closing the gap on him.

The course is an out and back. Somewhere just after 4km, the leading runners started running past in the opposite direction. At somewhere between 5km and 6km, the course turns and heads back in the other direction. At this point, I caught my husband up. Then I instantly overtook him.

The Bourton 10k wasn’t easy. I was really feeling it and pushing as hard as I could, but I just seemed to be able to run quite fast! The second half of the course is a gradual downhill, which is nice. As you get back to the village, you reach the 9km marker and another small lap of the village, which feels pretty long and tiring.

I crossed the line in 46:40 – 291st out of 704 runners. My husband was about a minute after me and my brother-in-law was about a minute after him. My sister finished in just over 51 minutes, which is remarkable considering she has only recently managed a 25 minute parkrun. My watch (which I’ve had since Christmas 2021) informed me I’d got a 5k PB of 22:42, which was a big surprise. My best parkrun (5k) since I got my watch was 23:08.

Bourton 10k was tough, but we all enjoyed it and I’m pretty sure we will all do it again next year.

The practical stuff: Free parking is provided in an industrial estate about a kilometre from the start. When this runs out, you have to use paid parking in the village.

Race numbers don’t come in the post. You pick them up on the morning at the race village.

The race village is about 300m from the start line. There are only five portaloos there and a man’s urinal cubicle. 

There are 30p public toilets in the centre of the village at the start line (they take card payments as well as coins). There are no queues at these, so it is well worth the 30p!

There are no Tshirts or medals for the Bourton 10k. There’s a can of some sort of drink, an energy bar and your time and position printed off on a little sticker.