Well, this was an interesting one. I knew a couple of other people running, which is always good for a bit of banter. Naively, I expected neither to pose much of a threat but one of them, my mate Will, almost pipped me at the post! The conditions were dire, unfortunately. Lots of rain and wind to keep us on our toes and lots of mud to bog us down! Still, a good atmosphere and a decent attempt by the organisers at staging a first event.
A small pack (I'm guessing around 70 runners) set off from the rowing club and followed the muddy banks of the River Wye. Immediately, one runner sped ahead of the rest (and ultimately won). I believe he was a sub-2:40 marathoner, so I for one wasn't about to try and keep up with him! A couple of other runners got giddy but started gasping for breath after about 1 mile, so I picked off a few of them and ended up in 5th place, quite a way behind the next runner. A gap also opened up between me and the next runner (my friend Will, who I only spotted with about half a mile to go!).
The first couple of miles were nice, flat and steady. At times it was difficult to get a purchase on the ground (the whole course was 'off road'), but I was happy to run the first mile 6m 33s and the second in 6m 40s. I pushed hard enough but didn't go all out. Just as well, as I knew next to nothing about the course and there was a hill around the corner.
After almost three miles we left the riverside and headed up a country lane ('up' being the operative word). We climbed steadily for 145 feet, just enough to labour the old breathing and force a change in pace! Mile 3 was steady enough at 6m 43s, and after 3.5m the hill petered out. The ensuing downhill stretch allowed me to catch my breath and make up for some lost time. All the same, mile 4 took 7m 13s (my slowest split time).
Mile 5 led us back out onto open fields. I took a look behind me to see the next runner had closed the gap a little. I had also made ground on 4th place, but not enough. We were being hit by some pretty nasty headwinds and keeping up the same pace started to become a battle. I was pleased, therefore, to see my Garmin show a split time of 6m 36s.
Things went a bit wrong during mile 6. I had been relying on the runner in 4th to lead the way as the course wasn't particularly well marked out. There were marshals but they weren't at all strategically placed. So when my pacesetter veered left, I naturally followed. Nope. Wrong way. The marshals in the distance furiously flapped their arms and we both muttered profanities under our breath and got back on track. The wind continued to howl and I just about managed to get my head down and hold my place until the end.
The course came up about a third of a mile short of 10k. I wasn't complaining at the time, but it's always a bit disappointing when you run an event and your time doesn't truly reflect your ability over that distance. This was especially true given that I came home in just under 40 minutes. But then this wasn't a target race by any means. It was something I had decided to do quite last minute and while recovering from various niggles. All in all, an enjoyable day.
Time: 39m 43s
Avg pace: 6m 46s / mile
Position: 5 of about 70
No official results yet. My Garmin data here.
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