Last year's event was a bit of a watershed moment for me as I finally felt the benefit of the summer marathon training program and realised I could bang out 7 minute miles for quite a long time. I was aiming for 70 minutes and got 68:13.
This year I had two more marathon training plans behind me so was aiming for 66:xx.
The weather was rather cold and the heavens opened a few minutes before the race start, meaning that we had no choice but to stand in the rain. Thankfully the race soon started and after a lap of the track we were off around Woodbank park and into the local housing estate.
The first mile was rather crowded and it took a lot of overtaking to start with a solid 6:50. By now I had latched onto a club mate (John) who normally beats me in 5Ks but who I beat in the Wilmslow Half in the spring. It would be interesting to see who would come out on top over 10 miles.
We settled into a 6:35 pace which felt comfortable as we weaved around the housing estate and then plunged into the valley over the next 3 miles.
Mile 5 is undulating and resulted in a 6:47 while mile 6 contains a long uphill out of the valley. With a lot of overtaking and surging we managed to keep this down to a 6:58.
In Mile 7 you plunge down into the valley again, resulting in an enjoyable 6:29 mile.
During Mile 8 we were joined by another club mate (Paul) who had started easy and still looked very comfortable. We knocked out a solid 6:43 and then mile 9 starts with a gentle slope down to the river where this photo was taken:
After the bridge it was time to climb back up to Woodbank Park on the dreaded New Zealand Road hill. Actually this hill isn't that steep and it was quite fun conquering it together with the three of us in a row.
The final mile starts near the top of the hill and takes in the park and the best part of a lap on the track. As we entered the park Paul upped the pace to sub 6 minute miling and this broke up our group. I managed to stay a few metres behind Paul and John was a bit further back.
Onto the track and I managed to speed up to sub 6 pace myself, overtaking two runners and finishing a few seconds and one place behind Paul. John was a few seconds back.
So a time of 66:40 was satisfactory being a 90 second PB. However a final mile of 6:20 suggests that I left too much in the tank. I probably should have pushed it harder on the final hill rather than succumb to the temptation to tuck in with my club mates.
Overall a great event and I will definitely be back next time.
