Make 15 December a date for your diary! Up to 1500 runners will be setting off on the annual Stockport 10 race at 10AM and Focused Nutrition is pleased to be sponsoring the event. Let’s find out a little more about the race, including the route, its history and most important of all, this year’s charity.
About the Stockport Ten
As the name suggests, this is a ten-mile race and was first organised by the Stockport Harriers running club back in 2002. Since then, the race has grown in scale and popularity and today, it is one of the biggest events of its kind in the area.
Over the past 17 years, the race has been hosted at different venues, but now, Woodbank Park, where the Harriers are based, feels like its permanent home. The route has also seen some variations. Past events have been around Edgeley to the south west of Stockport, but this year, it takes the familiar circular route through Offerton, Foggbrook and Bredbury that was first used in 2014.
There will be plenty of ups and downs on the undulating course, so runners will need to keep their energy up with high-energy snacks along the way. The two biggest ascents are at the five-mile and 8.5-mile points, but after that, it’s downhill all the way to the finish. The course is primarily on roads, with around 1.5 miles on unmade tracks.
Past winners
The race is open to all, and of course it is all about taking part. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be some fierce competition, particularly among the club runners leading the pack! Stockport Harriers’ own Jack Martin won the event last year, with a time of 50.01. That beat the previous course record, which was set by Harriers’ Patrick Martin in 2016, by a matter of just three seconds. In fact, a Harriers’ runner has finished first among the men in every Stockport 10 race since the event moved to its present course. Can they keep their perfect record for a sixth consecutive year?
As for the ladies, last year’s winner was Julie Briscow. She was the first Wakefield Harriers runner ever to win the Stockport 10 and did so in a time of 59:16. That was more than three minutes ahead of the second placed runner, but it was not a course record. That is still held by Alison Lavender of Oswestry Running Club who won with a time of 58:12 in 2014.
This year’s charity
This year, the athletes will be raising money for the Stockport Foodbank. This fantastic organisation provides families in crisis with nutritionally balanced emergency food supplies when they need it most. Stockport Foodbank is part of a network that operates in towns and cities across the UK, and is supported by The Trussell Trust.
Even if you are not running, you can do your bit on the day by coming along to Woodbank Road and cheering on the participants. You can also bring along a food donation for this year’s charity.