I ran an incredible 10km race at the weekend. Not incredible because I ran it quickly, but simply because it had the biggest, steepest, longest hill in it I’ve ever seen in a race before, writes Hannah Webster.

The race was the Threshold 10k run by Ilmington Sports & Social Club in Stratford, and the hill went on for about a kilometre, which is a hell of a long way when you are trying to push your pace. I couldn’t see it plateau for what felt like miles and arrived at the top looking like a dripping beetroot.

Of course what goes up, must come down, and what followed was an even steeper decline. What felt like a blessing at first as my muscles relaxed turned into a something which felt like being on an unstoppable rollercoaster without a seat belt.

When you run fast, you instinctively put your head down, but if I did that down this virtually vertical hill I would have simply gone head over heels in a ridiculous and painful somersault. But I still wanted to run fast. I tested out different ways of running, some trusting a little too much in the grip of my trainers, and ended up galloping down like some sort of demented pony.

It was great fun though, and I finished up with a time of one hour and two minutes. Not a brilliant time, I think I could have done better, but not my worst and it’s always exhilarating to cross the finish line of a race.

Results can be found here

*****

The insoles I had made for me by Salts Techstep have truly been a godsend. Incessant problems I used to have with shinsplints have now become a slight ache at most, which easily clears before my next run the following day. I went back to Philip at Salts Techstep the other day after bizarrely developing the blister the size of my palm on my right foot in the last three miles of an eight-mile run.

I always enjoy going to have a chat with Philip – it’s nice to speak to someone about running who knows what they are talking about. But as it turns out, the blister wasn’t really anything to do with the insoles, and more to do with fatigue and me losing my running form because I was tired. Philip gave me some tape to put around it so I can still run on it, and I haven’t had any problems since. Signs for the Reading Half Marathon on March 13 are looking good.

* I’m running the New York Marathon in November, with Sports Tours International, to raise money for Walsall Hospice. To book a place in the New York Marathon contact Sports Tours International by visiting www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk or telephone 0161 703 8161. Visit my fundraising page at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HannahWebster