Wedgnock Hills & Spills Winter Series - Race 1 - 07 November 2009...

Distance: 10k (6.2 miles)

In a time of...
hh:mm:ss
00:40:52

Finishing Position: 2
Number of finishers: 61
Putting me in the top: 3.27%

Seriously... the hardest race I have EVER run. Easily harder than last years Wedgnock Winter Series (which was pretty darn lung busting in itself!)... This course made a mockery of you - it made you feel like you weren't worthy of calling yourself a runner. There were sections of the course where my legs were so dead I dropped to a walk - yet I didn't lose ANY ground to the runners up ahead!

It really was insane... I didn't warm up enough (due to usual Simkiss dis-organisation) and lined up at the start bobbing around trying to prepare the muscles for what lay ahead (though in reality I had no idea it was going to be quite as bad as it was).

3-2-1-GO! Off we went, 300m burst along the flat (perhaps slightly downwards sloping) from the start, then a left hand turn, half a mile downhill (quite a steep descent for a road race!) which I ran at 4:20/mi pace! A very sharp left turn and over a fence into a field (I've been vaulting the gate at the end of my drive since those "Flora" adverts came on TV - and crikey, it gained me a good 5m compared to those who climbed over the fence).

Across the field we went, slight incline which was very draining, through a wooded section which was very slippery (despite my new trail shoes... it really needed some 15mm spikes). We came out of the forest and back into the field still running up a steady incline. We passed the first mile in 5:42 and turned left ready to 'attack' the first major hill of the day.

Now lets be honest here, hill is an understatement, it was a beast - so steep that running up it was nearly impossible! I tried to maintain a running rhythm for as long as possible but it just felt like I was wasting energy, so I dropped to a walk - hands on knees and tried to power up. My legs were burning with discomfort, it was a horrible horrible feeling - never before has racing been so painful whilst moving so slowly! This 200m of the course was done at 13:45/mi pace - and I've no doubt that during the steeper sections I would've been slower than 20:00/mi. Garmin data shows 100ft ascent in the space of 200m (averaged over the whole climb).

Back onto the road and my legs were just so heavy I couldn't muster up any kind of pace at all and I really was just plodding along (it was the same for everyone I think). 1st and second place were edging away with ease - probably 30m head. By the time we reached the next off-road section just under half a mile later my legs were just about start to come back to me. I was still in 3rd place as this point and vaulting over another fence bought me within 20m of 2nd... gaining a good 10m in a matter of seconds. Another steep descent (at 4:44/mi pace), through a bit more of a forest, round a little lake and we were soon back onto the road. I enjoyed the road sections as it gave me chance to find form again and run as I'm used to running.

No sooner had I thought that, we passed 2.5mi, turned left onto pig lane which was a muddy track, an uphill muddy track... it certainly wasn't as steep as the last major climb, but I swear it was no easier, and a LOT more draining - the main reason being it just went on, and on, and on, and on, and you STILL couldn't see the summit! This hill was 1.25mi of pure ascent (admittedly it flattened off momentarily in the middle) but you were running up it, giving it as much as your legs and lungs would allow, but you weren't managing anything more than walking pace - indeed this was the section of the course where I dropped to a walk on several occasions, only to realise the leaders weren't getting any further ahead! I averaged around 9:10/mi up this hill, though was undoubtedly slower in parts.

So 500ft of ascent later (over a distance of 1.25mi) and I think we'd reached the highest point on the course - at least I was sure it couldn't get any worse. Thankfully I was right - the remainder of the race was a bit of a blur, but I was battling with a guy for 3rd/4th place - he was a sub 34min lightweight 10k runner, nothing to him at all, and he was wearing road shoes - so each time we ran on the road or on hard off-road ground, he would come sailing past me, then on the off-road stuff (particularly the descents) I would come flying past him. Most notably was one incredibly muddy downhill section - he entered the descent with a good 15m lead on me, but was really struggling with the terrain, giving it his all (as he later told me), he was hopping from one side of the path to the other trying to find firm ground... I quickly caught him and looked for my opportunity to pass (it was a narrow pathway), he hopped to the right of the path and I made my move, ploughing through the deep mud - at which point he tries to hop to the left of the path and jumps practically on top of me; after a brief tangling of limbs I was away - though once the descent was finished we were back on the road, and he soon took the position back.

Most of the latter part of the course was either on road, or firm ground, and 3rd place was opening a gap to me - I conceded that I wouldn't catch him, and had a fairly decent gap behind me - looking ahead into the distance I was startled that the two lead guys had managed to open up such a big gap as to be out of sight. The thought entered my head "I wonder if they've taken a wrong turn?" But my thoughts were soon dispelled as there were a number of varying trainers tread types in the mud below me.

I passed Simkiss Sr. taking photos at the 6mi marker, and asked if I was clear from 5th place, "Yeah, well clear, totally safe" he said after a brief pause. I jogged my way to the finish and practically walked across the line exhausted. Stopping my timer in 40:54.

I looked for my clubmate who was one of the leading two to congratulate him... nowhere to be seen, same for second place... "Erm... something's not right!" I thought - I went to check with the race director about finishing position - despite my belief that I was in 4th place, the results showed me in 2nd place. Turns out 1st & 2nd had both, independent of each other, missed a left hand turn at 4.2mi. Myself and third place runner went searching for them, though by the time we'd found them they were back on course - they later finished in around 1hour - understandably gutted.

So that was it... the race was over - I'd not ran to my best and the hills had made a mockery of me, but despite this I bizarrely managed to finish 2nd.

I did wear my Garmin for this race - for no reason other than to understand how far round the course I was (no mile/km markers - which can be very misleading when running off-road). Stats show a fastest pace of 4:05/mi (over a 50 distance in the very early stages), and a slowest 50m pace of 23:45/mi (up the killer hill just after 1mi).

I'll be back for the rest of the series, but I'll need to do some hill work in the meantime!