Boxing Day is a funny old day with many people labeling it as the start of that post Christmas lull, between the giving out of the presents until the drunken debauchery of the New Year festivities. With this years television offerings being at an all time low, and having no need to go and buy a new leather sofa, or other unneeded retail opportunities in the sales, what was better to fill the first half of the day than with an organised run!

A previous search of Runners World event system highlighted the Poole "Round The Lakes" 10km race, boasting a flat course and traffic free. Anybody looking for that combination in a 10km race is going to be pretty hard pushed to find one during the whole year so with the possibility of a potential PB it was booked. Being that time of the holidays traffic was scarce along the route, so getting into Poole there was no difficulty, however attempting to find free and convenient parking near to the race was a near impossibility. It being a Saturday that the race was held, and Poole town council's quest to maximise revenue through parking charges, there was no getting away from the fact that hard earned cash was going to have to be placed in a machine. Initially getting there nice and early and parking in the town centre, it soon became apparent that the start, after a few people were quizzed, was almost 3/4 of a mile away, and there is nothing worse than being tired after a race and having to stagger great distances back to your car. With the name of the road running parallel the lake itself, it was a run back to the car, the Sat Nav re-fired up and a quick change to the new location before all the spaces were taken.

With a shorter warm up time now, it was quick change and a run up to the start to get my bearings and try to get a few warm up stretches completed. The race is ran around Poole Park Lake measuring 2.5km, and therefore four laps to complete. Looking around this race was quite a small affair with the organisers keeping a cap on numbers that is almost always maxed each year. This is because the course can become quite narrow in places, as well as the faster runners being guaranteed to catch up with the back runners. Jostling to the front the gun went off and the race was on!

The course had several advantages of being slightly downhill in places but having a few twists and turns. Also in order to overtake in places it was off-road onto the grass to get by. I have come across many obstacles on runs before, but having to dodge a very peed off hissing swan at the 1km marker is a first, and probably a last. The course was well marshaled with lots of encouragement, and the park itself had been closed to traffic as promised ensuring no cars having to be dodged. I am not normally a fan of races that contain loops, as they can become boring, however the psychological effect of knowing exactly what the route is very early on, as well as having the race broken into easy to manage 2.5km chunks, I felt really helped to motivate to a faster speed and effort.

By the beginning of lap two, the back runners were caught up, but common sense prevailed by all parties by the faster ones taking the outside route if needed, and the slower runners ensuring there were gaps if required. With a quick check of the watch and half a lap to go I soon realised a fast time was possible, so with an extra tweak a new PB of 38.43s was gained. I realise that Poole can be quite a trek for just a 10km race, but if you are looking for a good, flat, PB potential run at only £9 in advanced cost, then this one is well worth looking at for next year.