Corsham 10k, 2023

Mrs S and I headed back to Corsham after a 4-year absence for its big-event-in-a-small-Wiltshire-town 10k race. There were over 1100 runners taking part on a cool morning that alternately threatened showers and sunshine, but unlike the London marathon stayed thankfully dry - as it would have been a bit miserable getting wet on the playing field or huddling in the village hall.

Keeping warm

Thoroughly warmed up

As I'd hoped I met Craig before the start and we had a good catch up as we waited for the countdown. There were about a dozen super-keen young guys on the start line. 'Easy, easy' we kept telling in each other throughout the first km, in which Craig went ahead of me, until I took him at 2km. It was almost entirely uphill for the first 4km, and I enjoyed steadily catching people.

Through the second half I felt good and kept the pressure on the pace. There's a sharp little hill at 9km, after which you're back on the finish road. I was right on my threshold. The distance countdown signs - every 100m with 500m to go - took an age to chew through, and I was done for at the end.

But check this out - a split time of 37:20, 2 seconds ahead of my 2019 time. I was thrilled - and especially because I managed to bag the M50 prize. Here are my stats. The km split comparison is interesting - 2019 on the left, 2023 on the right.

  

The lovely Mrs S came busting in soon afterwards, very pleased with her race. We sat in the sun for a while, picked up my trophy and headed to Frome for a very nice late breakfast. Fabulous!

The fast and the furious

Some shiny glassware for the mantlepice