I am a sucker for a fast, flat course in the warmth of the sun and the Valencia 10K has been on my bucket list for a while.
I managed to persuade my wife to come with me with the promise of a long weekend in sun and tick off another city on our travels.
Valencia is a absolutely beautiful city, full of culture and history, great food at great prices and offers you the opportunity of some winter sunshine.
If you are thinking about taking part in the Valencia 10K in Spain, here are a few things to consider.
Collecting Your Number
This is the part I found most tricky as you have to collect your number on the Friday or Saturday before the race on the Sunday.
Apart from saying the basic words like hello and thank you, I do not speak Spanish, which made collecting my number interesting as I did not understand how I found out what my number was, when arriving on the ground floor of the shopping centre.
Luckily, I lovely local lady helped me find my number on the website and then took me upstairs to collect my t-shirt, where the small race day exhibition is and some backgrounds to take your pre-race photos.
Course
There is a reason world class times are recorded on this course and apart from a very small but long incline when going over the Pont de l'Assut de l'Or bridge just before mile 2, the course is pancake flat with long stretches of road with very few corners.
The course is all on closed roads and is well supported with cheer squads that are playing music or beating drums to give a carnival atmosphere, especially at the start and finish where they blare out Euro dance music.
It is a busy race and although you are put into waves, the start can be a bit manic, but this probably worked to my advantage and stopped me from going off to fast.
Be aware of some of the locals wanting to cross the road, as a few just wandered across a busy road of runners with little disregard for safety.
You can see my Strava activity HERE to see elevations and the course in detail.
Water
There is only 1 water stop at around 6KM. This is a small bottle of water, but there are volunteers on both sides of the road handing these out and it was easy to obtain.
Medal
There is no medal, but you do get a goody bag and and a impressive Mizuno T-shirt when you collect your number.
The goody bag is not that impressive, but given the price of entry it is not bad. It included:
- 226ERS BCAA's Vegan Gummy Bar
- Olive Biscuits
- Suncream & Aftersun
Toilets
There were a few portable toilets around but they were all super busy with long queues.
This is where the VIP entry really was great value as there was 2 portable toilets for a small number of people and you did not have to queue.
Photos
There was a number of people taking photographs and you can find all the photos HERE.
All the photographs have been uploaded to the photographers individual website or just on a Facebook page, so there is no search function and unless you are a really good runner from the elite wave it is quite hard to find yourself.
So far, I have only managed to find one photo of me in the background (see above) from the Levante EMV website.
Cost
It costs around €15 for entry but I paid €55 for VIP entry.
VIP
My theory was, I would pay £55 for a standard entry in a big race in London anyway, but being abroad it might be easier somehow to understand what was going on or what I needed to do if I had a VIP entry.
It gained you access to a private area that had toilets, bar with soft drinks, pastries and burgers that was all part of your VIP entry.
The VIP area itself was a little underwhelming if I am honest, with just a table under a pop up tent to store your bag that was not manned by anyone, although there is only a handful of people in the area I wouldn't leave anything valuable in your bag.
However, the bar was great, well stocked with soft cold drinks and was right in front of the finish line to soak up the atmosphere.
How To Enter?
You can enter at 10kvalencia.com and entries open around April time and close a week or so before race day.
Results
You can find the results from the 2023 race HERE
Would I Enter Again?
Yes, the course is perfect for chasing PB's, has a great atmosphere and excellent value for money even if you choose the VIP entry like I did.
Valenica the city is a lovely place to visit with so many restaurants, bars, places of interest and best of all some winter sunshine.
Things To Bear In Mind
- All corresponding emails are limited, are sent to you in Spanish and your need to use Google translate for updates.
- Bear in mind you have to collect your race day number 1 to 2 days before the race and it is not sent to you.
- You may need to ask a few people to find someone who can speak English to understand what is going on or find the right place to collect your number and on race day. People are really friendly, so don't hesitate to ask.
- The Valencia airport is only 15-20 minutes away from the city centre, we did organise a private pick up but you can get around the city really cheaply with the local taxis.
- Food and drink can be pretty cheap if you eat and drink like the locals for coffee, pastries, wine, paella, etc, but if you go to the commercial places you might find in the UK, expect to pay similar prices.
- Transport is really easy around Valencia as there are loads of bike and public transport lanes, which makes taxi's around the city really cheap, with most journeys costing us between €5 to €10.
Kit
I wore the following race day kit:
Top: My club t-shirt
Shorts: Nike Run Division 3 in 1 Shorts
Compression Socks: Bauerfeind Compression Socks
Arm Sleeves: Compressport Under Control Arm Sleeves
Trainers: Nike Alphafly 2
Watch: Coros Pace 2
Headphones: Aftershokz Aeropex Headphones
Questions
If you have any questions you would like to ask about the Valencia 10km please ask below in the comments.
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