Wedgnock Hills & Spills Winter Series - Race 3 - 23 January 2010...

Distance: 10k (6.2 miles)

In a time of...
hh:mm:ss
00:40:03

Finishing Position: 1
Number of finishers: 79
Putting me in the top: 1.26%

The course for Race 3 of the series was virtually identical to the course used on Boxing Day, other than it started on the road, as per race 1 of the series. I lined up at the start and although there seemed to be tonnes of parked cars, the field seemed no bigger than the race on Boxing Day (in fact it was 1 person less). I spotted Nathan Holmes, who I'd beaten, and been beaten by in last years Winter Series (when it was based at the Rifle Range in Warwick), so I knew I had some competition.

The race started and Nathan took an early lead flying down the steep hill for about the first half mile - I held back not wanting to batter my legs early on and then closed the gap gradually as we came across the fields towards to first steep climb.

Nathan seemed to struggle on the climb (well we both did, but I managed to walk up stronger than him) and I passed him, opening a short gap by the time we reached the summit and rejoined the road. As the photo shows, I think the hill hurt him pretty bad.

I took it easy along the road to allow some of the heaviness that had accumulated in my legs during the climb to clear, and also to run alongside/behind Nathan, rather than have him chasing me for the whole race - I know how hard this race gets in the latter stages so wanted to hold back as much as I could whilst still being in contention for top spot. Nathan caught me on the road section and I let him lead the way, he started to open up a gap on the next long descent which I closed up through a wooded section. Around the perimeter of some farmer's fields which were lined with deep mud and water filled mud-ruts. I sat just behind him until we reached another section on the road where he started to open up a gap. I was happy in the knowledge that I wasn't pushing too hard knowing that there was a long hard climb up ahead.

We turned off the road, and raced across a farmers field (full of that horrible sticky mud that clings to your shoes), I passed Nathan again here, whether I picked a better line, or whether I was just more used to the conditions (a lot of my easy training runs were across these types of muddy fields) I'm not sure, but I eased past and began a long, draining climb. I knew I would have to walk at some point on this hill, it was just a case of when - Hearing deep breathing behind me gave me an idea of how close Nathan was, my memory is a little fuzzy of the rest of the climb but I remember telling myself that "I'm allowed to walk once I reach that really muddy section where the gradient increases, as long as I run up to that point" - and that I did. I walked for a short period and the breathing behind me was noticeably further behind (though I didn't dare look round to see exactly where it was). The ascent levelled off momentarily and I returned to a run, and continued that way up the remainder of the hill realising that this was my best chance to make a break since I was coping better on the climbs than Nathan, and this was the longest climb of the race.

Nathan was very strong on the descents, but thankfully I'd gained sufficient lead on the climb, and descended aggressively enough to maintain a gap before reaching another climb. Through a few gates and up another climb, the course eventually rejoined the road and I had at glance at how big my lead was as I went through a kissing gate, the lead (by distance) wasn't much, but he was still climbing, and I'd reached a relatively flat section of road, so the gap was bigger than it may have appeared.

The course turned off the road to rejoin other runners partway up the long climb (where I'd broken ahead earlier on) - the course now followed back down the climb, and followed most of the route in reverse to get back to the start. I ran hard down the long descent, passing runners travelling in the other direction who were yet to reach the summit and was grateful for the words of encouragement some of them gave. I think I need to practise my descending - I ran hard and I could feel my core muscles working overtime to keep me balanced and upright. At the bottom of the hill I ran back across the farmers field to rejoin the road - not long after I could hear Nathan's studded trainers clip-clopping behind me. He'd managed to close the gap a reasonable amount on the descent, so I started to push hard along the flat. Back across more sticky muddy fields, back through the wooded section and ready to tackle the final challenging climb.

I knew at this point I was struggling, and knowing how hard the climb is I planned my tactics for the final mile. I ran the hill up until any particularly steep points, at which point I would drop to a walk to conserve energy - my logic being that any energy I could save on the climb would be energy in the bank for the final stretch home along the road. If I could make Nathan work his arse off to catch me on the climb then surely I would have the advantage with fresher legs once we reached the summit.

I kept running, and picked spots where it looked particularly slippery, and where the hill became steeper, and planned which of these sections I would walk. I dropped to a walk one final time before reaching the summit and could hear Nathan closing the gap. He was retching, whether he was sick or not I don't know, but his grunts of pain and discomfort gave me a good idea of where he was. The only problem was they were getting closer and closer! We neared the top and I broke into a run a little earlier than planned, such was my concern of the closing gap to the man behind. I pushed hard as soon as I hit the road and felt strong, I started to feel I had it in the bag, and pushed for home.

As the finish came into sight and I neared the race photographer, I had to give a celebratory punch in the air, no matter how cheesey it seemed. With a finishing time of 40:03, it was over a minute and a half faster than boxing day, and more than explains why my quads and glutes are aching like mad 2 days later. With one race left in the series, a finish of 11th place or better should guarantee me the title - but it's not over until it's over!