We turned up at Seaford on a bright and breezy morning. Thankfully, yesterday's hot weather had dispersed. This was a small and low-key event, organised by the local Rotary, although it was compered by the local town crier. (We couldn't help noticing that town criers seem to be getting younger).
 |
| Oh yea! |
We set off into a brisk headwind along the seafront and then headed inland on country lanes. There were five runners ahead of me, and then three, as lane turned into track and we started gaining elevation. The landscape opened up into fabulous rolling chalk hills. By 6km I had edged into the lead, but with a certain amount of trepidation at being in pole position this early on unknown territory.
Soon after 7km we were heading steadily uphill to the east-west ridge which spanned the half-way point, and three chaps overtook me. I was almost relieved, and dug in behind them. We had a never-ending ascent to the crest of the hill which never quite arrived, with a tremendous panoramic view.
 |
| Lovely day for it |
I had a couple of moments in the final stages where it wasn't entirely clear where I should be running and whether I should be crossing the main road. I have a lot of admiration and respect for marshals, but some are certainly more experienced than others when it comes to telling runners what they need to know... it's not always obvious when you're in the thick of a race.
Back on the promenade, and a long gasping plod to the finish line in third place. I reckon it was about 400m short of HM distance, but nonetheless I was very happy with my time of 1:25:43. Here are my stats.
 |
| Mrs S pushes for the line |
 |
| 3rd place trophy |
A lovely, low key race on the South Downs. We may well be back for another crack at this one!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.