Mary Case
In today's race I felt the pressure and got the diamond. Yes, two people did pass me near the end so I finish 5th rather than 3rd but those two were good runners. My time was 34:06 which was a good time for a tough 10K course. I was only 13 seconds behind 3rd place. My confidence has been boosted which was needed after a couple of weeks with a shin injury.
Here are the splits...
Mile 1) 5:16. This was flat and along the Caernarfon sea front. Beautiful scenery.
2) 5:27. Still along the sea front. At this point I was in about 7th position and catching up to the front runners. The wind was still on my back.
3) 5:24 The hard two miles were coming up. UP being the operative word; uphill.
4) 5:40 Now I was focussing on going a bit faster. I had reserved my energy and was now letting myself go for it. I like racing where I hang back, feeling good and not letting myself go full out until half way.
5) 5:36 I could see Steve Crowe and Lee Jones. I put in a good 800m effort by pretending that it was an interval session. Caught Lee going uphill but knew that he might catch me again near the end with his sprint finish.
6) - 1m - 5:26 Passed Steve Crowe. This was new territory for me. Didn't ever think I would be good enough to catch the legend in a race. I should have known at this point that he would take me at the end because he had enough energy to say hello to me.
7) 1:18(5:24/m) I was in third place, I could see Brendan for 2nd place and so I ran hard and fast to catch him. The problem was that everyone ran hard and fast and I actually had Steve and Lee sprint past me as if they were fresh daisies. It was close. 13 seconds between 2nd, 3rd, 4th and me.
This was one of those exciting rare races were I was being both the hunter and the hunted. I've done too many lone races so this was refreshing. If Lee or Steve read this thanks for making it a race rather than a hard run.
Mile 1) 5:16. This was flat and along the Caernarfon sea front. Beautiful scenery.
2) 5:27. Still along the sea front. At this point I was in about 7th position and catching up to the front runners. The wind was still on my back.
3) 5:24 The hard two miles were coming up. UP being the operative word; uphill.
4) 5:40 Now I was focussing on going a bit faster. I had reserved my energy and was now letting myself go for it. I like racing where I hang back, feeling good and not letting myself go full out until half way.
5) 5:36 I could see Steve Crowe and Lee Jones. I put in a good 800m effort by pretending that it was an interval session. Caught Lee going uphill but knew that he might catch me again near the end with his sprint finish.
6) - 1m - 5:26 Passed Steve Crowe. This was new territory for me. Didn't ever think I would be good enough to catch the legend in a race. I should have known at this point that he would take me at the end because he had enough energy to say hello to me.
7) 1:18(5:24/m) I was in third place, I could see Brendan for 2nd place and so I ran hard and fast to catch him. The problem was that everyone ran hard and fast and I actually had Steve and Lee sprint past me as if they were fresh daisies. It was close. 13 seconds between 2nd, 3rd, 4th and me.
This was one of those exciting rare races were I was being both the hunter and the hunted. I've done too many lone races so this was refreshing. If Lee or Steve read this thanks for making it a race rather than a hard run.
Well done. Good running.
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