St Helen’s, once a power house of coal mining and glassmaking now boasts high crime rates, industrial decline, economic challenges but on the plus side the GPW Recruitment St. Helens 10k!
The St Helens 10k starts at the aptly named Totally Wicked stadium - home of the mighty Saints rugby team and runs past some of the towns top attractions such as the World of Glass Museum and The Glass House JD Wetherspoons. Heading out of the town centre past the Victorian Town Hall before heading up North Road for a lap or two around Victoria park (home of the St Helen’s parkrun) then cresting the peak of North Road again and heading back through the town for a superb finish in front of the packed north stand of the Totally Wicked stadium.
A flock of Rams braved the journey over the M62 on a cool crisp morning to see what all the fuss was about the “north road climb” and to make our mark on this popular event with over 1700 runners taking part. At 9:30am the race started and the course was reasonably flat up to the base of North Road which although one of the steepest hills in St Helens, was a minor bump in the road to the members of the Ramsbottom Running Club who eat hills like that for breakfast!
After the climb there was a nice section of downhill and flat until you entered Victoria Park for an undulating lap or two before getting back on the roads and heading back towards the finish. There were a number of loops in the park which meant you could see fellow Rams and give a shout or wave of encouragement to spur each other on.
This was a well organised event, really well supported and had the feel of a big race by utilising the towns sporting heritage to provide a background for the start and finish of the race. The Rams all ran amazingly well and it was amazing to see the effort that everyone had put in on which was a tough 10K.
It’s great to see everyone at these club races and a good opportunity to get to know fellow 🐏 as well.
Well done everyone and can’t wait to see everyone at the next club race!
Michael Aiken RRC554