Today I completed my first "10k" race, the Windsor Beer Run. I put the distance in commas because it was only 9k. Is this to be expected? I appreciate it is difficult to make trail runs exactly 10 or 5 k but 10% difference seems like a lot to my inexperienced mind. I have been going over the race wondering if I missed a turning but I don't think I did, and if I did, I was in good company, there were plenty of other runners keeping a similar pace.
I feel a bit cheated, not least because my non-running partner made a special effort to support me on this run and because I arrived 10 minutes earlier than expected, he wasn't there to see me cross the finish line
On the positive side, the weather and scenery was lovely, the route was well marshalled and there was beer waiting for us after the finish line.
Written by
Teri73
Graduate10
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I wonder what happened there Teri73? Did other people say it was only 9k too? Seems rather strange to be 1km short. I’ve not done any races so cannot compare but sometimes gps comes up with varying distances for parkrun, but not by that much.
I see someone else has posted a review complaining that the course was only 9k, they apparently used strava and I was using Runkeeper so it looks like the course was indeed only 9k. I wonder if the organisers made a mistake when they put the signage out? Feeling quite annoyed with them, it was my first 10k and I was hoping to use it as a baseline for future events but now don’t even feel like I have really completed a 10k race.
On the upside, I was still feeling good at 9k and felt I had paced myself well to do the last 1k, so the training has definitely paid off and I know I will be in good shape when I get to run a full 10k race.
Check with the organisers as many runs show up short using GPS. Camperdown parkrun in Dundee is famous for it: like every parkrun it is an accurately measured 5k but people keep complaining their devices only show 4.8. But it’s the GPS devices that are wrong in that case. It happens sometimes,especially in woodland or other areas where GPS signal may be patchy. Ask the organisers if the course was accurately measured using a proper measuring wheel.
Thank you Arthur, I had wondered if my GPS was on the blink but seeing other participants record the same distance makes me think the course was not quite right. Looking through the event emails I found a course route for the 10k, it was in strava and only measured 9.7k, comparing the maps, I think the course I ran was missing a small loop on the western end of the course, that may account for 3-400m. Maybe the other 300m can be attributed to poor GPS, although almost all of the course was across open fields.
Interesting. Again though remember Strava is only as accurate as the GPS data it uses. Event organisers do not use Strava or any other GPS system to measure routes because it isn't accurate enough. Nevertheless 900m does seem quite a lot and there may indeed be a signage error or some such but do check with the organisers before assuming they didn't measure the course properly. As I say at Camperdown lots of people using different GPS devices think the course is short when it isn't.
I think I would be a bit annoyed too! But there's lots of positives there. You arrived 10 minutes early for one! You felt you could run more too. It's also a good reason to book another 10K very soon.
One more silver lining - I ran down a hill this morning (it's a hill to me, anyway) - deliberately so I could make myself run back up it; I was mulling over your problem and what I might do to check which was the right distance, when I suddenly realised I was already back on the flat. Never even noticed the uphill drag Just shows how much of this running is a challenge for the mind rather than the body
It is funny how easy this running lark can be if you can find something else to focus your mind on
Don't tell anyone but I did some hill sprints last week (I hate hills and invariably walk up them) and to my surprise I enjoyed it, came home very sweaty and tired but will definitely do some more
Give it a go Linda, I thought I would hate it and give up after the first sprint but found it quite exhilarating... 20 second uphill jog, 10 second sprint then walk back down, rinse and repeat until you feel chuffed with what you have accomplished
Top tip - make sure you are well warmed up before you get to the hill, don't want to pull a muscle on your first step!
Just thought of another factor - looking at Teri's map, it seems quite hilly. When you run up or down a hill the distance covered on the ground is greater than the difference measured on a map, because the map is flat and the ground isn't. Strava and similar programmes do have algorithms to try to compensate for that but it is a known problem. Comes back to the same theme, don't assume the GPS distance is accurate no matter how many devices measured it because they all have the same limitations. It may very well be that there was no mistake and you have run 10k at a faster pace than you thought. But we won't prove or disprove that on the Internet. You need to contact the organisers and ask them.
Good point Arthur. Although it looks hilly on the graph, take a closer look at the scale and you will see none of the "hills" are greater than 5 metres The flat course was one of the reasons I picked this race for my first 10k, I have my eye on the Hogs Back 11k in December - the complete opposite, its all up and down!
As you say, there does seem to be a bit extra at the western point, and if you map that in something like mapmyrun it looks like it might account for about 0.5km of the missing distance. Not good that it could easily be missed though, and doesn't explain the rest of the missing km
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Just shows how much of this running is a challenge for the mind rather than the body 
I thought a brief walk is cheating?!
Weeks break and feeling good..
Not feeling it today! 
Got a race medal but feel like a failure
Scared of feeling ill
