The Nice Work Richmond Park Christmas 10k & 5k

This was my first ever race and for me it was a good introduction. Richmond Park is a stunning location to run, albeit fairly busy on a clear and bright Sunday morning. There is plenty of parking, but if the car park is full there is parking just outside Sheen Gate on the road. The event tent was easy to find (I was a bit anxious about finding it, first race nerves and all that) but I was greeted by a friendly team who handed me my 5k number and timing chip. Once we lined up and got underway the course gently climbs along a dirt track for the first couple of km's, then turns to pavement for the next couple, and the last 1km is on grass which can be a bit muddy as its the same route for Parkrun every Saturday! It makes shoe strategy a bit difficult but I ran the Christmas one too and that was in the snow in normal running shoes rather than trails and worked out ok. The 10k race is two laps and there is a water point at 5k. Jaffa cakes and a medal at the end too.