Reccying the route

Polite notice

The race is famous for a few things:

The Goody Bag, containing some useful and some strange items. The items change each year but you  can be sure of a technical t-shirt and an amusing sticker (last year's was "Stockport 10, for those who like it long and hard on a Sunday morning"!)

The friendly organisers and marshalls who will do anything to help the runners unless it's against the rules;

And the challenging course with hills that are long and hard.

So that's what the runners will be doing but what of the normal people of Stockport on a Sunday morning? Well now, let's see. It's a fortnight before Christmas and the shops will be open so chances are they're going to be rushing around like headless chickens trying to get to the shops with Christmas list in hand.

Marshalling the PUMA Stockport 10 route can be a challenging, depending where you are asked to work. There are two housing estates on the route and one in particular is home to more than its fair share of stressed out, would-be Christmas shoppers. Last year there were reports of marshalls being screamed at by those who thought 1000 runners passing through their neighbourhood between 1010hrs and 1030hrs was most unacceptable as they had to wait before turning out of their street. Then there's the petrol station. Oh boy! Whoever marshalls at that point needs broad shoulders!

For this reason seven of us set out last Sunday morning to recce the route, mark where the mile markers will go and put posters on the lamposts to warn the residents of the slight disruption they may face. It was the slowest 10 miler ever as we stopped at very many lamposts along the way and spoke to one farmer, whose drive we run along, and a couple of residents who were already out and about. Those that we spoke to were not only interested in hearing about the run but also very supportive. If people know about it in advance, I am sure they will be more understanding and supportive and hopefully the posters will help to spread the word. We always leaflet drop on the estate that gives us the most grief but perhaps people don't read the leaflets. Hopefully they will read the posters.

So, roll on next Sunday and fingers crossed for good running weather. There's still a lot to do before then including packing the goody bags and getting the stickers printed (suggestions please for a good one liner) but you can be sure that everything will be ready come Sunday morning to make sure all runners get what they come for!