Regents Park 10K - April - It starts again!

After having so much fun at the Winter Series I decided that this year I would go for the Summer Series of 10K races as well - especially now that these are run on a Sunday as well. So today rather than head off to Legoland with the family I decided to keep it local (and pay the price by dealing with a long list of jobs around the house). As much as I like travelling out to Windsor I'm pretty happy with this arrangement since I got to enjoy the sunshine and to be honest I am just loving the warmer weather! The only problem is that the paths are now swamped by Londoners still sleepy from their long hibernation and that includes the race today what with over 500 participants! Still at least the route is unchanged:

 

So, as ever, I gently warmed up with a lap of the course and then spent a decent amount of time stretching out in the radiant warmth; for some reason the start time is 9:30 for this series and so there's no need to rush. Even at the start I was happy to seed myself 20-30 people back; right next to the runner in a rubber horse's head (shades of The Godfather?) but in front of a vast wave of charity joggers. This was all part of my plan of course! Today I wanted nothing more than to keep my knees high, maintain my form and by extension my stride length; if I managed to keep it together for the entire 10K then I wasn't bothered about the time.

Which was fortunate as I didn't really start with super-speed; there were just too many bodies around to find a rhythm and it wasn't until the second lap that I felt able to claw back some places. Which isn't to say that I was out of my comfort zone but neither was I in it. Just somewhere in between. However during the seventh kilometre my world became a little brighter when I managed to definitively drop the guy who I'd picked up 2000m earlier and then who should I find at the start/finish but the world's most vocal supporter - Ira! With his encouragement ringing in my ears I found the strength to pick up the pace and drag myself towards the Highgate Harrier in front.

So there we were - I draw level as we go past the ponds and when we head up the first hill there's heavy traffic from the back-markers. He's working hard to make it tough on me and a bit of dodging around people is required but that's ok; it's the same for both of us. Then, though, he cuts right across the corner onto the main drag to gain 5m and that's just not fair; this behaviour I do not like. So I decide that I'm going to bust his balls! Just like that I accelerate to 6 min/mile pace up the hill, my form feels great and I slide out of view as far as he's concerned; no fireworks, just solid running. For the next 2K I put in my fastest splits of the race and by the finish that Harrier is 10 seconds back - plucked and served. This is a result that I can live with (well that and finishing in 38:52 for 22nd place out of the 511 souls who made the finish).

Distance: 10.9 miles

Time: 1h 18m 27s