Starter for 10

By Jason Richards

Ford Advertisement Feature.

On the 16^th of March I took part in the Thirsk 10 mile road race. It’s a race I have been doing since the millennium, so it was great to do it a quarter of a century later. Back in 2000 I finished 3^rd and over the last 25 years have done this race on many occasions, including during Foot & Mouth when we had to wheel over special mats soaked in disinfectant to prevent the spread of the diseases. I successfully went on to win the race over the years but now at the age of 53 I was happy just to be there and to take part. 

I have also been an ambassador for Ford Mobility for 25 years so this marks a special year for me. Ford were visionary in the Motability sector by introducing ambassadors to support the brand at Motability events. Even now, a quarter of a century later, Ford are still leading the way in how they support people at the Motability events and with the class leading advice their ambassadors provide to existing and new customers to the scheme.

What this means is that I have travelled to every Thirsk 10 mile race I have raced at in a Ford. Not just me, but those Fords have been loaded up with my family, racing chair and all of the ambition and joy that wheelchair sport has brought to me over the last quarter of a century.

It is an extra special event for me as my parents live on the route of the course and come out to cheer everyone on. Also this year my eldest son ran it for the first time, having met the age eligibility criteria and having always been on the side line watching me for many years. Over the last 15 months I have slowly increased the volume of time I have spent in my racing chair, from once a week to 3 sessions, including one longer push on the road and two pushes on my indoor trainer. I have noticed my fitness steadily improving and I also found my love for the technical aspects of the sport again. My brain has reengaged with thinking about pushing technique and adjusting the moulded gloves we use to gain traction on the push rims to drive the wheels and the chair forwards. At the start of March, I picked up a new racing chair and Thirsk was only the 2^nd time I have been out in it. I knew from the moment I got into it that it was a great fit and technically superior, with technology and materials have moved on a great deal over the last 15 years since my previous chair was made. This year saw a change to the route, eliminating a section through farmland and adding a new out and back section. As the gun went, and the pack surged forward I stuck with the pace for the first mile. By mile 3 I could only see one athlete in front of me and as we turned onto the main road for the out and back section, I lost sight of the athletes in front, and it was time to see what I was made of. Wheelchair racing can be lonely at times when you are on your own and there is no one to share the work with. But I found a passion inside me that spurred me on, pushing hard despite having no visible target to chase. I was delighted to complete the 10-mile course at Thirsk over 3 minutes faster than last year and to finish 2^nd in the over 50s age category. The other two athletes who returned from last year’s start line were both close to 2 minutes slower than last year due to a change to the course and the strong head winds, so this put my progress and sense of personal achievement into perspective. 

I am now looking forward to taking part in the 45^th anniversary of the London marathon in April. I first took to the streets of London for the marathon in 2002 and achieved my best time in 2005, so it will be interesting to see how far off those numbers I can get all these years later. I will put my neck on the line and say that my target is to go under 2 hours. So, lets see if that same passion and determination that I found in Thirsk can carry me to the finish of the marathon in a months’ time.