Southampton 10k, 2023

Friday morning, and I had cold insistently making itself felt. Groan. Where was this going to leave me for Sunday's race?

Twenty four hours later, and I managed to get around Dunstable Downs parkrun without too much bother. But my lungs were full of gunk. What should I do about this 10k?

I ended up going with pacing rather than racing. I accompanied Mitch Robson, son of Gerry, around the course. He was looking to go sub 39 minutes. We kept to a respectable pace, with me having to encourage him more and more volubly as the course progressed. We picked up a lady called Beth at about 8km and by the end there was a small gang of us.

The course was about 250m long, which meant that our finish time of 39:23 reflected a sub-39er, and Mitch was happy. And no viral harm done to yours truly, so it was all good. And the lovely Mrs S was very happy with her race too. From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success!

With Gerry and Mitch

Mrs S with the ladies