well thats my first official 10k done.
I was aiming to run it in under 52mins since this is what I have done in my practice routes and Im sad to say I didnt beat it! However, I have good reasons
And here is the race report.
So, arrived in plenty of time since the race started at 11am. About 10:30 I started to warm up just with some easy jogs around the start line. At 10:50 they announced that they wouldnt be starting the race until 11:15 because the girl who was coming along to do the group warm up session was still stuck in traffic! You would have thought she would have left plenty of time to get to the race. Anyway.
She finally arrived at 11:05 and processed to do a 5 min warm up routine which most people took part in, I personally didnt bother and just did a bit more slow running and my own stretches. I didnt want to start a new routine of warming up 2 mins before the race.
They announced that the Super Elite althetes should take their place on the start line, I was shocked to find I was classed as super elite since my finish time was to be under the hour. We all took our places and waited. Then they asked everyone else, or as they called them, the elite runners to stand behind us faster people, this however didnt happen and they slower runners started to force themselves up to the front. Never mind I thought, I will soon pass them.
How wrong was I!
We were told that due to the rain last night the course between 3k and 7k was a bit muddy so to be careful, with this in mind the countdown started 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1......GO! And the race was off.
Through the start gate and I started my watch. Round the first corner and straight on to a narrow, single track road which left no room at all for passing the slower runners, at one stage I was almost walking!
This slow pace continued for about half a mile, I was starting to get annoyed but then remember it was a fun run, so I relaxed a bit and waited for the right moment to burst past them.
2km mark came up and the mud really got bad, you couldnt tell if it was solid ground or soft so everyone slowed up again as you couldnt go any faster if you wanted to. We were sliding all over the place and this continued to be the general rule for most of the race. At the 5km mark there was a steep hill climb for about 200metres and this was pure mud. My pace dropped to 3mph which even then was faster than some of the people going up the climb.
I got to the top of the hill and then started to pick off more slower runners or just the people who got shattered after the hill.
I got in to a good wee group of runners and our pace started to even out and as a group we were still passing people which felt great. 9km marker and I was feel good and still keeping up with the group, 500metres to go marker and I thought to myself, if I knew how far 500metres was I would start to pick up the pace, but I couldnt work it out in my head so waited...waited, waited a bit more and then round the corner we came and there it was, the finish line, I dug in and sprinted past the entire group I had been running with and came over the line before them! It felt great!
Finishing time was sadly 53mins 23seconds but I reckon I could have done better if the ground had been harder as I felt brilliant about the 8k mark when they put us back on to tarmac.
It was a great race even though it started later than planned, the weather was really nice as well which helped.
I think Im going to need to work out my pace a bit better for a 10k race though so I know how far 500metres is and how far a K is so I can get my head round times as just now, if Im running in miles I know I can cover a mile in about 8mins10 so I can push harder for the final mile. For a K I had no idea so probably held a wee bit back. Never mind, you learn from your first race and I will aim to improve my time for the next one!
O.