Fitstuff G3 - 15k trail race

5:45... well, really.  This is a horrible time for the alarm clock to go off on a bleak Saturday in January, after a long week.  I had some breakfast, got my stuff together, and the radiant Mrs S and I headed off in the pitch dark to Newland's Corner in deepest Surrey.

We arrived in good time, sorted out race numbers and retreated back to the warmth of the car.  It was three degrees outside and there was a thick fog.  I was massively lacking any fire-in-the-belly race aggression and it was a real effort to get out of the car and strip down into race gear.

It was a bit grim at 8am

About 300 runners gathered on the start line; a mix of 10k and 15k runners with identical numbers so there was no way of knowing who was doing what.  There was a high-energy countdown and there was a big rush at the start, which I managed to ignore.

Heading to the start

We've had a fairly dry month so the going underfoot wasn't particularly splashy or slippy.  Over the first 2k I glided past a good number of folk and reckoned I was in the top ten.  Before long I was on my own, but about 4k in I was aware of someone approaching.  My hat was off by now and my hands were starting to get hot.  I waited till I was off a technical downhill section and onto a stretch of road before I started pulling my gloves off, and like an idiot managed to drop my hat just as matey (Robert Tansey) was level with me.  It took me a few seconds to twig this, and I had to turn back for about 30m, during which time Robert had pulled away.

I had now warmed up nicely.  Despite the continued mist, the landscape was terrific, with lots of interesting tracks and some cracking hills.  The signs were really first class - decent size, and positioned absolutely wherever they were needed.  Take note, Serpent Trail, Chase Half and Broadway! 

After about 8 or 9k I started working through the back of the 10k race field.  This is kind of nice, as although it involves some occasionally tricky overtaking, it's nice to go past other runners and shout/grunt encouragement to each other.  And then with about 1k remaining I spotted my enemy Robert ahead.  Excellent, I thought, he's fading.  I pushed up level with him, and he turned and looked at me before pushing ahead strongly, and couldn't answer him.  I pushed for a late surge but he beat me to it and we had a nice chat at the end.  Robert, what a pleasure racing you.  Check out the drama here!

So - I finished in 1:03:45 in 5th place and 1st M50.  Super.  A bit of a schlep getting here and a rather pricey event, but I can't fault the organisation.  Great fun!

Great run, but not up to the sprint finis