Hello friends! It's been a while since I posted on here, but I thought I'd share my latest event, the LBAC Leighton 10 mile which took place last Sunday, 22nd September.
I didn't decide to enter this event until I woke up on the morning of the race. I had almost ruled it out after a few runs last week felt like hard work, and the thought of running 6km further than my previous race filled me with dread. I went to bed early the night before, saying I'd see how I felt in the morning. I dreamt about running that night and woke feeling energized and excited about the event.
I arrived with 15 minutes to spare before the race start, and after registering and having to find someone with spare safety pins (thank you, whoever you are) I jogged the 800 metres from race control to the start area.
We gathered in a farmer's field and the race started at 9am on the dot, with almost 300 runners emerging onto the single track road from the gateway to the field. I had set myself a target of running 5 minutes kms, with the aim to finish as near to 1 hour 20 mins as I could. I had heard rumours that this course had some hills, and this year they had re-routed to avoid building work in the town, with the course taking in 2 laps of the roads around Mentmore and Ledburn. This meant that the largest hill of the event in Mentmore had to be done twice, and there were runners walking this on the first lap. I was determined not to walk and tried to think happy thoughts to take my mind off the incline. The upside of course was that there was a pretty handy downhill section too, which helped me keep my average pace in the zone I was aiming for.
I took a drink and a welcome jelly baby from the station near the 5 mile marker on lap 2, and another at the station after the big hill had been dispensed with for the second time. I had been running with a group of 3 other runners for a while by the time we reached the 8 mile marker, and I was beginning to feel tired. We were directed back towards Ascot House where the finish line was and I realised that the last mile was going to be all uphill. A little way up the hill I realised that the others I'd been running with were dropping back and I was starting to catch more runners ahead. That last mile seemed to go on forever, with the lane twisting and turning before a final off-road section led to the very welcome sight of the finish line. By now I was reeling in another runner quite quickly, so I dug in and put in a final sprint. He saw me coming and upped his pace and we crossed the line in a dead heat, congratulating each other on a job well done.
My official finish time was 1:20:43, with the Garmin showing an average page of 4:59/km, so I was extremely happy with that!
Next stop: Half Marathon. Keep on running!
Fission 2023 race report.
A New Category for the HM...The 3 legged Race!
Belfast city marathon 2019 very good experience and huge PB!!!
