Avebury 8/9, 2019

This was our third outing to this race in a row, and it's quickly become an annual highlight.  The lovely Mrs S, Abi (another lover of hills and mud) and I drove to Avebury on a still morning with the landscape wreathed in mist. We arrived in plenty of time, but after a bit of pfaffing around getting numbers and going to and from the car, we had to jog to get to the start line in time.

Lovely to be back in Avebury

Pre-race pfaffing with a smile

At the start I met old Avebury friends Craig and Courteney (AKA Chez) and we had a terrific race briefing that went something like this: 'Listen up everyone, because this is the race briefing.  There will be lots of mud.  Enjoy it!  Briefing over'. Now that's what I call a classy briefing.

We set off, and I quite quickly found myself in third place behind Chez and then Craig.  I overtook Craig on the long drag up to Windmill hill, and almost took a dive on the steep downhill section which was a maelstrom of roots, ruts and deep puddles.  Settling down after this excitement I was overtaken by a guy in blue, and the pattern was thus set for the rest of the race.

The recent rains had made the course quite thrilling in places, where it was a real challenge picking a good line.  The infamous ploughed field was as claggy as ever, and the long rutted drag uphill after Yatesbury was a real challenge.  I felt good and kept the pressure up.

Unfortunately the course had to be diverted from its traditional route over the top of Windmill Hill and across the water meadows because of an excess of water, so the final section was the reverse of the start.  I kept expecting to hear Craig's footsteps behind me and kept up the pressure, but I was safe by this stage and I heaved over the line in third place, the same as last year.  I finished in a satisfactory 56:59, faster than in previous years, but the change of course makes comparison meaningless.

The ladies finish after 9 miles of chat

And so back to the village hall for tea, cakes and the presentation.  This really is one of the jolliest and heartiest races you'll find anywhere.

Tea always tastes better from Marlborough RC mugs

The winnings

Gosport half, 2019

Ideal conditions today - cool, calm and gentle sunshine.  But it was a properly cold dawn, and the lovely Mrs S and I set off with multiple layers in the car.  We arrived at Gosport in good time and the whole parking business was remarkably easy.  We collected our race numbers and had fun hanging out with friends from Romsey, OS and the Hares.

The Romsey gang at the start

Here comes the Hares

We had a comedy moment at the start when the mayor told us to go at the sounding of the horse... and then we were off.  I was next to Alex Prinsep, but I quickly lost him and tried to settle into a sensible pace.  I did the first couple of kms in the low 3:40s - slightly on the quick side, but I was feeling OK.  It was a glorious day, and I was glad of my decision just before the start to ditch my long-sleeved base layer.

Me, Gerry and a sunbeam at the end of lap 1

I finished lap 1 in almost exactly 40 mins, and I was working hard.  I knew it would be hard work to match that and go sub 1:20, which was my ultimate goal.  In any case, I was hoping to beat this year's Bath time of 1:20:33.  My km pacing was now in the low 3:50s and I was struggling to improve on that.

Past the turn on the second lap, only 5km to go and there was a sense of the ante being upped a few notches.  A few well-paced runners glided past me, and in turn I caught a few faders.  And then with about a mile to go, there was Alex on my shoulder.  He beat me to it at Salisbury this year, and I wasn't going down without a fight.  Those final minutes were going to be hard work.

It was a blinder of a finish.  1km to go, then a 400m to go sign... each of us kept pushing a little harder, and we were absolutely level.  There was the finish gantry and it was now a full-on sprint.  I couldn't shake him.  Was he edging forward?  Not if I could help it.  We both heaved over the line and neither of us could speak for a bit.

Photo finish!

Mrs S took a photo of the finish and Alex looks like he's ahead, but the results put me in front on both gun and chip times by a second.  I don't really understand that... but for me this was a thrilling, exhilarating draw.  My chip time was 1:20:41, 8 seconds slower than Bath.  I maybe could have paced it better, but I had had such a cracking race at the finish that I really didn't mind at all.  Here are my stats and here's the flybe movie of the Prinsep-Stileman chase!

Done for!

Romsey survivors

The lovely Mrs S and her Hares

Remembrance 10k, 2019

This was the first proper cold race day this season. The thermometer read 0 degrees and the car was all iced up as a beautiful dawn broke and we headed to Fort Nelson for our second outing of the Remembrance 10k.

Heavy artillery at Fort Nelson

We got there in plenty of time, picked up our numbers from the registration desk and scurried back to the car with goose-pimply legs.  We went through a warm up and activation sequence, stripped down and headed to the start area a few minutes before the scheduled 10am start.

This was a Rural Running event; a hearty running outfit led by Geoff, who picks cracking courses but always managed to bring an element of disorganisation into every race.  He didn't disappoint.  At 9:55 he announced that as some runners were still queueing at the registration desk, the start would be delayed till 10:15.  Oh Lord, we thought.  I really didn't want to spend 15 minutes outside shivering in my singlet, so we went to the warm cafe, where we could see that the queue had almost cleared.  Fearing that the race would in fact start before 10:15 (which of course it did), we soon went back outside and got into the start area where we had the last post and a minute's silence, which felt very right and appropriate as we stood beneath Nelson's Memorial and looked down onto Portsmouth Harbour, but all of this meant that I was cold and stiff as the starting horn sounded.

For the first km, all of which was a drag uphill and into the wind, I could barely feel my feet, while my lungs felt tight.  The second km was all downhill, and by this stage a handful of guys had pulled well ahead.  One guy eased ahead of me, another fell back, and by halfway I was on my own in 4th place.

This course has two out-and-back doglegs, both about 1km each way.  A good chance to check out the competition, and an opportunity to wave at the lovely Mrs S, who was looking strong.  And then back onto the circuit and onto the long climb back up Portsdown Hill to the finish.  It was a longer and tougher grind than I had remembered, but passing through the 5k runners prevented it from being too lonely.

I finished in 4th place in 39:04, three places down but 26 seconds up on last year.  Here are my Garmin stats.  On paper this was a respectable result, but in truth I hadn't felt comfortable or in the zone, especially with the chilly start.  Mrs S, meanwhile, did an absolute stormer and had loved all of it.  And as a bonus, we got into the car just as it started pouring.

A focused, furious finish from Mrs S