Norwich Road Runners’ Alicia Lacey admitted she’s having to get used to being chased after taking victory at the Valentine’s 10K on Sunday.
Alicia has made great strides over the past 18 months to become one of the top female runners in Norfolk as she cruised to the win at the Norfolk Showground in 37:31.
City of Norwich AC’s Cat Cummings (37:51) ensured she could never relax at the front but Alicia managed to keep the gap she built up early on to take the win. Wymondham AC’s Juliette Watkinson claimed third place in 39:16.
Alicia said: “I was at the front as I left and I’ve never been chased before for a whole race – I'm normally chasing! I think being chased was a bit scary because I was thinking the whole time ‘if I drop five seconds and if Cat increases by five seconds then she’s going to start closing’.
“I just had to keep going because I knew someone was chasing me!”
The ‘killer hill’ at the end of the course caught out some runners and Alicia was no different but the rest of the race played out exactly how she wanted.
“It was a nice day, little bit of wind – it's just that hill isn’t it? I’m sure everyone said the same,” she added. “The hill was just a killer at the end. I was going really well, all the way from the beginning. I got to the roundabout just before you turn in and I felt quite good. I made the most of the downhills and all the little inclines and then you drop again.
“I knew the hill was coming and you just can’t prepare for it. When you’re in the zone cruising along, you don’t want to reserve anything – you want to make the most of it.”
Alicia broke the Norwich Road Runners 10K record with 37:23 at Snetterton last month when runners went off in a wave start. However, she preferred setting off in the elite women’s start to make it feel more like a race than a time trial.
“I did Snetterton a couple of weeks ago and that was so windy – it was almost a write-off but that’s still my PB,” added Alicia, whose next race is the City of Norwich Half Marathon in June. “Today, feels more normal. There’s just loads of space here so when everyone was warming up – there was plenty of space.
“Today, because all the women started together, you know where you are and it’s nice to race against people.”
Nearly 500 runners took part in the Norfolk Gazelles organised event, which took place under Covid-safe conditions.
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