Just like last year, Lindsay and I cycled over to the event. Just like last year, the weather was blazing hot, and just like last year I finished in 4th place. Well, that's the short version.
It's good to have a race so close that we could cycle there in under half an hour without wearing ourselves out - Barton's only 6 miles west of Hitchin so it provided a little warm-up. The race is a fund-raising activity for the village's school, and I suspect most entries were probably on the day.
There were still a few puddles around, even though it had been warm and dry for a couple of days. I can't imagine what the route would be like in the wet - cross-country spikes wouldn't be out of the question.
There were still a few puddles around, even though it had been warm and dry for a couple of days. I can't imagine what the route would be like in the wet - cross-country spikes wouldn't be out of the question.
The 10k race started at the same time and place as a 5k fun run, so the start line was full of kids who sprinted off at top speed (only to come a cropper almost immediately, since the first kilometre was all uphill - very tough. (In fact, this was the route, clockwise - just count all those contour lines at the start!). I know I didn't flatten any of these kids, so my conscience is clear.
After 2km I realised that I was going to have to contend with my legs still aching from that ridiculous 200m session we did on Thursday (the one where you keep running 200m as fast as you can until you can't take it any more), so this was an excellent excuse to look at the scenery, and try to find a pace that didn't hurt too much. Most of the way round I had this song in my head (but that's OK because it's quite an uplifting one to run to!).
Right at the end was a long downhill stretch, which by rights should be a great way to speed up, but since my legs were so tired I didn't trust them to go where I wanted them to, so had to slow down a bit just to make sure I stayed upright.
Unfortunately, there was a marshalling malfunction at about 8k, when we had to turn left off the Lilley road and head towards the finish. Well, a marshalling absence, in fact. I was in 4th place at the time, and the first 3 runners all carried on straight ahead (I know what it's like, I've done it often enough myself!). So although I didn't know it, I found myself leading the race for a kilometre or so. The first 2 guys caught me up again, but the 3rd one didn't, so technically I finished 3rd, but I don't think I could really justify accepting the 3rd place medal in those circumstances, so sorted it all out after the finish.
There was a small but friendly NHRR turnout, with James immediately behind me, and Jaime, Jo S and Lindsay running too. And here we are...
Oh yes, after Jo asked about this race on the forum I said
Good off-road race that I would have considered doing again... if it wasn't 3 days before the next midweek league race.
So what happened? Well, obviously, I changed my mind. Although the midweek league is very tight at the moment, it's really won or lost by who turns up and who doesn't. It's not so tight (yet) that an extra 10k in my legs is going to make all the difference. (I reserve the right to change my mind again if I have a disaster on Wednesday.)
So the review stuff:
Facilities - the school was 5 minutes walk from the start and finish (don't know if it had showers). The finish was on a recreation ground so families could use the playground if necessary. There was a stall selling teas, coffees and bacon butties at the end, so a big thumbs up for that!
Course - marked every kilometre, but a couple of turns unmarked, and very few marshals. In its defence, this is effectively a fun run organised by a school, so it's not designed to be organised like a 'normal' race.
Did we win anything? - Well, I suppose I gave up my prize! So no.
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