On Sunday I raced the Barry Island 10k organised by Run4Wales. It takes place on fully closed roads and showcases the town’s most scenic spots including Whitmore Bay, the Knap, Romilly Park and Watch House Bay.

It was the biggest ever Barry Island 10k with more than 4,300 entries and also a new course record in the women’s race!

It was a great day for it with blue skies and warm but not overly hot temperatures. The sun was shining and we were on the coast which provided a great backdrop for this fun event. It was quite a windy morning but that is always the risk when racing on the coast.

This is always a popular event with a particularly strong turnout from clubs in South Wales but looking around people had also travelled from the South West and other parts of the country.

I was lucky to have been given an elite entry which meant I could go to a special tent next to the start/finish line before and after the race. This made warming up much easier as we could do what we needed to do and then go straight to the start line. We also had our own toilets which was very useful and saved a lot of time!

It was a fairly strong elite field consisting mainly of Wales’ top club athletes but there were also some talented runners from elsewhere in the UK. The standout names were Omar Ahmed and Natasha Wilson.

I was expecting a quick start, especially considering some of the talent in the race, so made sure to start sensibly. I went off hard but stayed back slightly. As we all expected Omar Ahmed went off quickly, positioned himself on the back of the lead car and gradually pulled away.

Jonathan Butler (Swansea Harriers) also went off quite hard and established a gap between myself, Matthew Verran (Swansea Harriers) and Mike Roderick (Tri Hard Harriers) who formed a small group. We ran together for the first couple of kilometres and then Matthew and me started to pull away.

We ran together until the half way point where a 5k split is taken, I went through it 16:03, and then in Romilly Park I slowly started to pull away from Matthew. Over the next few miles I gradually increased that lead and even managed to pick up the pace to record a negative split (which is rare for me especially in a 10k!).

The second half of the race had long sections along the coastline which made things more difficult because of the wind but I felt strong and kept pushing. Jonathan was a bit too far ahead to catch but I could always see him and was trying to close the gap as much as I could while also doing my best to increase my lead over Matthew. Anytime there were spectators I tried to listen for the cheers to judge how much of a lead I had over him.

The finish circles around Barry Island and is very well supported. The final straight is downhill but to get there you do have to climb up! The course was actually much hillier than I was expecting, especially given the level of competition it always attracts, and when you look at the results it is definitely not a race to go for a PB. But it was a really well organised and enjoyable event made even better being a sunny day at the seaside!

Omar Ahmed (Birchfield Harriers) won the race in 30:04 with Jonathan Butler (Swansea Harriers) second in 31:39. I finished third in 32:00 (I did my best to dip under 32 with a sprint finish but didn’t quite manage to!). Natasha Wilson (Micky Morris Racing Team) won the women’s race in 34:18 followed home by Olivia Tsim (Pontypridd Roadents) in 35:36 and Donna Morris (Builth & District RC) in 36:53. In total there were 3389 finishers. Full results here.

Because it is Barry Island there had to be some Gavin & Stacey references. Everyone on the podium received a special bonus prize which was a tap! If you know, you know.

The race HQ is on Barry Island by the seafront overlooking Whitmore Bay. There is a lot going on in the race village including live music, entertainment, sponsor stands and food. A lot of people stick around after the race to soak up the seaside atmosphere with some going for a swim.

The roads are closed and there are plenty of Run4Wales marshals on the course to ensure any pedestrians, cyclists and cars are aware of the race taking place as well as guide runners around the course.

Well done to everyone who raced and thank you to Run4Wales for organising another great Barry Island 10k race!

If you are interested in taking part in next year’s race then you can read more and sign up on the event page here.