Darwen Tower and Blackpool

I've just been checking the route I took and gmaps pedometer calculates it at 14.2 miles, having started and finished at the top barn and taking the longer path to Darwen Tower, coming back via Great Hill and missing the short cut from Spittlers. I was quite tired by the time I caught up with Ed and Kev at the top barn. A good Saturday morning workout but I made it much harder than I wanted.
Nevertheless, madness dictated that I headed to Bispham (Blackpool) on Sunday morning for the 10k that is part of the Central Lancashire Grand Prix and club road championship. The turnout for red and black was poor, the upside was that I bagged 26 points. I expected a slow time and assumed Bazza would finally have me beaten. However, the weariness meant I started much more sensibly although passing the first mile marker in 7:13 possibly suggested otherwise. It was hard all the way through with the wind blasting in off the Irish Sea on a course that made use of the lower promenades but after the first mile I managed a steady pace and gradually picked off a few more places to finish in 47:32, not terrible but not great, only 5th out of 7 in the age category but 81st of 130 finishers overall.