Well the forecast for today was dreadful but it was a pleasant surprise to be in the start pens this morning with dry skies.
Organised by Run North West, the Southport race is a 2 lapper, setting out along Southport's Marine Drive running North East up to the end of the Marine Lake and then coming back via the old Promenade.
A pretty flat course running on tarmac, it was promised to be a PB course. Now my previous PB in a race was just under 70 minutes but my speed has increased since then, and my training 10k PB was 65 minutes and change over an undulating route with one huge hill. Set against that is the foot sprain that happened on my last race.
So I decided to set myself a fairly achievable target of 63 minutes and put myself in the 60-65 minute pen, at about the middle of the field of 1900 runners.
After a short delay at the start we were off, taking what seemed like an eternity to get up to the start line. But over we went and it was time to knuckle down.
Quite quickly I realised I'd started too far back and so began working my way up the field. At the 1k mark, I realised I was running a bit too fast at 5.42/k so eased back a little. And really the first lap (roughly 5k) was just spent pootling along.
Going into the second lap I ate a gel and got a lovely cheer from my friend who had come to watch. I passed her at just over 30 minutes and was thinking "do you know, this could be a sub-60 if I've got a bit more to give near the end).
And so we went into the third quarter of the race, which I remembered Coach Bennett saying was the risk point in any race. And, yes, I found my mind wandering and my pace slowing. Damn. Glanced at my watch and I was running very slow. So a bit of mental wrangling was needed to get the focus back.
K 7, 6.08.6. Ahead of my target pace but I'd got the hour in my head by now. So I decided to see if I could pick up my cadence.
K8, 5.59. Good stuff but not enough. Focus! K9, 5.50... this might be on!
Blimey I had to dig deep during that last K but then I'm rounding the last bend and the finish is in sight. One last push!
And I'm over the line and the clock says 61 minutes and change. Oh well, but it's 2 minutes under my target so I was delighted. Off we went to get a diet coke and a sit down.
But wait... here's the official results text and I realise that the clock at the finish is showing gun time! And I hadn't bothered to check my Garmin as I just assumed their clock would be more accurate. Oh what an idiot. So my chip time... 59.39! I actually shouted "OMG" and got a fair few surprised looks from neighbouring tables.
So, yes, a PB course. But also a very well-organised event and a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Blyth 10k race report, asthma is bad but I got around. 
First ‘official’ 10K race ✅
Post grad B210K consolidation-10K
