Wedgnock Hills & Spills Winter Series - Race 2 - 26 December 2009...

Distance: 10k (6.2 miles)

In a time of...
hh:mm:ss
00:41:49

Finishing Position: 1
Number of finishers: 80
Putting me in the top: 1.25%

Waking up on Boxing Day morning, I actually felt very fresh and energized - which was a pleasant surprise having enjoyed vast amounts of Turkey, mince pies, and other Xmas foodstuffs, and also had a sufficient consumption of alcohol during the day as well. The morning was cold, but sunny, and was progressively getting warmer. Pre-race warnings had been given about the conditions in the area, but the race was still to go ahead.

The course was adapted to suit the conditions, some roads were simply dangerous (ice covered hills etc) and needed to be avoided, so the new course was a surprise to all as the race unfolded.

Before the race I'd decided I would simply take it steady, enjoy my run and see what happened - this was because I was only just coming back into proper training and building up reasonable mileage, but none of my running had been at a fast pace, every run was just easy paced to gradually build a strong aerobic base.

The race was underway and the starting pace was quite sedate - This was welcomed in comparison to the charge at the start of Race 1 in the series. I settled in behind a few guys and trotted at a comfortable pace across the field on the slight downward slope, through a slippery & muddy forest section and across another field and onto the road. "I'm quite happy like this" I thought, jogging along at a very comfortable pace , when suddenly a runner came from behind to take the lead and progressively open up a gap "No chance am I going with him" I thought. We approached a race marshal, my good friend Pete Matthews, who was stood across the road and directing runners to his left (our right as we approached him) and over the fence. The leading runner ignored the marshal and ran straight past him. How he didn't hear him I don't know - I (and seemingly everyone else) could hear just fine, and we were a good 10m behind. He soon heard the shouts from race marshal Pete, and turned quickly to rejoin the race, slipping over in the process.

Whilst others began to climb over the fence, I vaulted it (having had much practice at leaping fences during my easy training runs across the fields), and found myself in first place. I let other runners catch me and we crossed the field together, back through the wooded section and to the first climb.

This was the climb that wiped me out in race 1 of the series, so I was prepared to walk up the majority of it, and that I did - opening up a gap in the process. From this point on I felt comfortable, and the remainder of the race was completed at an enjoyable pace. I was lucky to not receive a challenge from other runners, and my gap progressively grew as the race progressed.

Sections of the course were solid ice where snow had compacted, melted and then refrozen and required very careful footing. For many it involved dropping to a walk just to try and stay upright. In hindsight spikes would've been a wise choice, and for the few tarmac sections of the course that weren't lined with sheet ice, runners could've ran at the edge of the road on the grassy verge.

The remainder of the race didn't involve much tactics, or anything of great interest - I did take a tumble at one point, right in front of Rob (one of the race organisers), part way round the course on a slippery descent, but the rest of the run was spent grinning from ear to ear at the joy of running off-road in such a beautiful location, and best of all I was leading a race!