Two Castles Run - 12 June 2011...

Distance: 10k (6.2 miles)

In a time of...
hh:mm:ss
00:32:50

Finishing Position: 2
Number of finishers: 3071
Putting me in the top: 0.06%

A fairly short race report for this race, the 2011 Warwickshire County 10km Champs.

Obviously being the County Champs I wanted to put in a strong performance, but knowing the course was a net elevation gain I wasn't expecting anything spectacular time-wise, I was hoping I might be able to manage a sub 33min performance, but based on more recent race results my instincts were telling me a performance closer to 34min was more probable.

With the race entry list being so large it was a pointless task in trying to suss out what competition was likely to be at the race, with so many unknowns, anyone could've turned up - that said, I did have a quick glance at the local clubs entrants and saw Matt Lole of Coventry Godiva Harriers had entered who's a strong runner and would undoubtedly be up at the front regardless of who else turned up. A few other strong runners I recognised would be running, so it looked set to be a good race - I was fairly confident that after a mile or so it'd soon be clear who the main contenders were.

As the race got underway, conditions were ideal, cool and drizzly, not to everyone's liking but I was more than happy. Three young runners from Leamington C&AC surged to the front, though most (myself included) were happy to let them lead the way; the rest of us tucked in behind. It wasn't long before Matt Lole made a move towards the front, and was closely followed by Andrew Siggers, the two started to open up a gap to the Leamington lads and it was obvious that I needed to go with them if I wanted to be anywhere near contention. I picked up the pace and joined Siggers, with Lole starting to open a small gap ahead - I felt his pace was a bit too much for me to comfortably follow, and that doing so would likely have been detrimental to my performance in the latter stages of the race.

2km and Lole was clearly in good shape, pulling away all the time. I held second with Andrew Siggers on my shoulder, the sound of his footstrikes a constant reminder to maintain a good solid pace, then somewhere nearing (or after - I forget!) 2miles, the sound of footsteps went quiet as I realised Andrew had dropped back... I'm sure it didn't happen that suddenly, but at the time it had appeared to. From this point on I was just conscious of pushing on, and trying not to let the gap to Lole get any bigger - I was realistic in the fact that I'd never close the gap and that any cause for concern would be a challenge from behind.

I ran comfortably through and out the other side of Leek Wooton, and glanced back as we made a sharp right hand turn towards Kenilworth, I didn't see anyone, which perhaps was a bad thing to do as I may have eased off a bit here. As we climbed into Kenilworth and turned into the housing estate I became aware that the 3rd place runner, who wasn't the 3rd placed runner of earlier in the race, but another guy, was closing the gap on me. I once again started to put the effort in and made the conscious effort to run as hard as my legs would sustainably allow.

Turning on Rouncil Lane, a long(ish) descent in Kenilworth, I was able to see Matt Lole in the distance ahead - I picked a tree as a marker and began to count the time difference between the two of us. Whilst doing so I began to draw confidence in that as long as I could sustain a reasonable pace, the 3rd place runner was unlikely to catch me. I approached the marker tree whilst counting 60, 61, 62... somewhere around 65seconds I passed the same marker, Lole had over a minutes lead at this point.

Knowing the finish was near I began to relax, and the crowd support began to grow larger and louder, which made the occasion that much more enjoyable and eased the tiredness of the legs. One final climb towards the Castle and I was done - suddenly realising that 3rd place had significantly closed the gap - still not enough to cause major concern, but I certainly kept one eye on him as I completed the final quarter mile.

I came into the Castle grounds, pleased with my run, and picked up the pace for a strong finish, not only that but I caught a glance of the timing clock which was reading 32:XX... I crossed the line over the moon to have broken 33mins on an uphill course, though truth be told I hadn’t really noticed it being that uphill, all the climbs and descents were fairly gradual, and the highest point of the course was just over halfway into the race, so not too bad at all really - I've no doubt the cool/damp weather made life a little easier compared to the scorching hot conditions in which I last ran this course in 2006.

The Club team put in a strong performance, comfortably taking the men's team 1st place for the Warwickshire Road Race League, and my 2nd place was sufficient to consolidate my spot at the top of the Warwickshire Road Race League individual standings. I also got a chance to speak with Andrew Siggers for the first time after the race, who no doubt I'll be having some close battles with in future over slightly longer distances (e.g. Kenilworth Half).