East Farm half marathon 2018

I'm not terribly keen on laps.  I prefer something with a bit more geographic logic, a bit more purpose and direction.  Track running is the ultimate in pure running... but I prefer new landscapes and vistas over the watch-checking repetition of running in circles.

And so I wondered how I would get on with the East Farm half, a White Star event with multiple races based on laps of a 5km-ish circuit of Dorset farmland.  It was an early Saturday morning start for the lovely Mrs S and I on a bright morning.  We said hello to Paddy Connors from Itchen Spitfires, who is generally quicker than I am, but whom I managed to take out at last winter's Gutbuster.  There was the usual quirky race briefing before the marathon runners set off at 9am and the halvers started 15 minutes later.

I counted about 7 runners ahead of me, which became 5 after the first hill.  Paddy was right up at the front.  A few minutes later I caught some guy wearing tights (no way was I going to let him beat me).  In to open fields, there was a series of signs along the hedgerow:

There may be trouble ahead

But while there's moonlight and music

And love and romance

Let's face the music and dance

Hmmm... what was all this about?  Soon enough, it was clear... 3 big straw bales ram into a field gateway making a rustic hurdle that was a quite tricky to get over.  By the third lap I was sort of slithering over and jumping down which seemed to work best.

Back to the laps.  The circuit was rarely flat and never boring.  Long drags up fields of stubble into the wind, knobbly farm tracks, open fields, great views - it was all good fun.  Fairly swiftly I started catching the back of the marathon runners and from there on it was a more or less continuous overtaking job.  A few ladies were dressed up in 1920s flapper outfits, leaving occasional coloured feathers behind them.  It was all very good humoured.

From the second lap we were directed on a shorter route which involved taking a steeper hill - an interestingly hoofy stretch.  I saw #3 (Scott Mordew) ahead of me, walking.  I reckoned I could probably get up it at a run, and I got a sense of despair as I passed him.

But he didn't make it easy.  Scott stayed right behind me for the whole of the second lap.  As we started the third and approached the hill again I knew this was a good chance to open up a gap.  I didn't look back, I never saw him again, but I imagined him keeping a beady eye on me and I pressed on in to the second half of the race feeling good and really not minding the hills at all.

The hill at the start of the third lap; that's me running up the track, with Scott behind

Into the final lap, and I tried to rev things up a bit.  I was feeling good, and crossed the line in third place in 1:34:30.  Great fun - in fact the best fun I think I've ever had on a 4-lap course. Here are my stats, and here's the Flyby showing Paddy, me and Scott battling it out.  Good old White Star races - they never disappoint.

Just starting the final lap...

...and just finishing it

A nice haul of goodies

Fight to the finish: Wickham 10k 2018

It was a damp, dull sort of morning.  The lovely Mrs S and I pitched up at Wickham community centre where we met Tony, Di and Dave from OS plus a few familiar faces from Itchen Spitfires, including one of my deadliest rival, Gerry Robson.

Mrs S and the rivals before the start

Now, Gerry and I go back a year or so to the time that I hit 50 and joined his age category.  He subsequently spent much of the winter season injured and then I've been below par on the speed front since early May, so we haven't had that many proper encounters recently.  He's been trouncing me on recent RR10s and parkruns, but Mrs S told me that he doesn't like hills, and with a few natty climbs on this course I thought this might be an interesting battle.

Gerry and I like coiled springs, itching for the off

I resolved to let Gerry do the work from the start and set the pace.  After a couple of km I found myself close behind him and edged ahead.  He stayed with me, and by 3k it was just the two of us in combat - the rest of the field was nowhere to be seen.

Part of me was slightly aghast at the work I clearly had in front of me, part was exhilarated, and part was curious as to how this thing would pan out.  Gerry was constantly there, blowing hard close to me, sometimes slightly ahead, sometimes behind.  I was working right at my threshold...  and so it went on and on.  At 8k Gerry was pulling ahead... at 9k I was in the lead. This was enthralling stuff.

The final 500m or so was all downhill.  Gerry edged ahead and opened up a lead.  Busting everything I had, I couldn't hold him, and he hit the line 5 seconds before me.  Game over.

I think this was the most full-on deadly duel I've ever had in a race.  Just checkout the Strava flyby.  Here are my stats and here are the results.

Gerry - a huge thank you for a fantastic adventure, and great job on knocking out that storming finish.

With the OS gang at the finish

Salisbury 54321 half

A slightly damp morning, taking the edge off August heat, but good conditions underfoot and reasonable visibility.  A perfect day for a multi-terrain half marathon!

I nearly did this race a few years ago but withdrew with a summer cold.  I'm so pleased to have done it - it's a charming and good humoured event, organised by the local fire station with a quirky and exhaustive attention to detail (check this route description out).  The lovely Mrs S had run her own full marathon yesterday so was in support mode today.  We met up with Romsey ladies Brenda, Liz and Anna, endured some horrendous blaring music (race directors, don't put teenagers in charge of this) and set off.

The first 2k was flat.  I counted the runners ahead - there were 5 of them.  One fell back pretty swiftly and two went well ahead.  That left three of us in our own race.

From 2 to 14k there were 4 really quite knobbly and interesting hill, starting with Old Sarum.  It was good to get off the road and get the lungs working properly.  Then over Laverstock Down and then a familiar hill up past Clarendon Palace.  By now one of the three, a bloke in green, had dropped back, and I got into a proper tussle with a man in black.  He consistently edged past me uphill and I overtook him downhill.

We steamed down past Clarendon, dodging the tail-enders of the 33km race which had set off half an hour earlier, and emerged on the road near Alderbury.  From here there was a lengthy drag uphill, but luckily we'd recced this part and I knew what to expect.  MIB overtook me near the top.  I knew this was the last hill, and I hoped to put a bit of distance in front of him on the descent into the Avon valley.  I pushed past and kept as much pace as I could down the steep gravel track. 

There was a real treat ahead.  The route went through the Longford estate, and right past Longford Castle. 

Nice pile... we ran top-to-bottom

By now the 33k-ers had peeled off and I was alone.  I kept the pressure up, fearful of MIB creeping up on me.  I went through the village of Britford and emerged into the familiar edge of Salisbury. 

The last 2k or so was a big weave and dodge past all the bemused folk out for nice Sunday strolls around the cathedral grounds and the commercial centre.  The signs weren't all obvious and I had to make some guesses.  I had to duck a bit on the riverside path as it went under the ring road and the railway line.  I was properly tiring now, my watch having beeped for 21k some way back... but suddenly I found myself on the finish field and I flopped over the line.  Third place!  I was really chuffed with that.  Here are my stats.

A smashing course and a friendly, quirky event.  See you next year!

Better gurn for the camera

Spent but happy.  Sorry about the armpits.