I've run this race every year since it started, with the exception of an injury-stopped-play 2014. It's a very friendly event on a terrifically hilly and properly multi-terrain course.
I think this was the first time I'd tried running a race just 7 days after a marathon. I had only run once during the preceding week, and my hamstrings were particularly tight... but I was feeling well and I'd been looking forward to this event for a while.
Off we went, and I quickly found myself in about 8th place. After a bit of shuffling places, I was on my own, and it stayed that way for the whole race. My legs felt tight but I enjoyed it, going at full lung capacity. Some excitingly boggy stretches vindicated my last-minute switch to trail shoes, overcoming my aversion to more bruised toenails.
8th place was where I ended up, with a time of 39:08. Here are the GPS stats. Nothing remotely exciting about that, compared to the 37:54 I did in 2013. But context in this case was probably all. Skimming a few articles on the net suggested that it normally takes at least 2 weeks to get back to full strength after a marathon. But aside from all that, it was a thoroughly enjoyable gallop through lovely countryside on a September morning.
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