In the context of racing this year, this was my biggest single event - my A Race. Having tried but failed to qualify for the England Athletics Masters 10k at Telford last year and subsequently been injured out of a half marathon attempt in January, the Run Tatton half in Cheshire was my primary training focus.
The lead up to this had been terrific, taking in the CapTen and Clarendon races over September and October, and training going nicely to plan without any injury nonsense getting in the way. And so it was that Mrs S and I drove up to Cheshire on Friday and spent a happy Saturday exploring the Peak District before turning up at Tatton Park on Sunday under dark clouds and a forecast of light rain.
I had dug around for details of my M55 competitors - specifically, those who had registered for the EA Masters competition. There were six of us, and according to Run Britain rankings and Power of 10, I was in with a shout of finishing in the top 3 to make the cut. On paper it looked like I was a shade behind a guy called Langdon Williams.
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| Competitor analysis |
Waiting for the start, I looked around for other EA registrants (we were obliged to sport our categories on our backs) and met a bloke called Richard Johnson, whom I couldn't recall from my competitor list. He casually told me that he had already qualified for the Masters three times. The bastard. 'But I don't think I'll be qualifying today', he added.
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| Warming up |
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| Waiting to start (or possibly ascend into heaven) |
A nervous countdown later, we were off. Steady, steady, I told myself, trying to pace to a sensible 3:50 first km (which is mightily hard to do when your primal brain is shouting 'it's a race!'. After a short while I spotted Richard ahead of me.
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| We're off |
I was feeling good, and the kms fell away. I felt myself slowly edging through the field. It started raining, but I barely registered it. Before long I was back in the start field; first lap done.
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| First lap; keeping it steady |
The second lap was slightly shorter than the first, without a making-up-the-distance extra dogleg. Before long I passed the tailwalker for the 10k race, and after this the route became increasingly busy. Passing slower runners can be a hazard when they move unexpectedly, and I had a couple of close encounters, but thankfully no drama.
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| Second lap, starting to catch the 10k runners |
Into the final 5k, and as per standard procedure I was upping the intensity to retain my speed. I could still see Richard ahead of me and it seemed that I might be gaining on him. But I wasn't going to catch him with the remaining distance almost done.
On to the finish field, and a push to the line. The finish gantry was fifty metres off the gravel path, involving a sharp turn to the left over sodden grass (it was by now raining steadily). I slid like mad and for a moment thought I was going down... but just managed to stay aloft to get over the line.
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| A great demonstration of poor running form as I slide around on the grass finish |
My chip time was 1:22:12. And my position? I was fourth. Langdon Williams was second (21 seconds ahead of me) and Richard was third, 11 seconds ahead. It turned out that both Richard and first-placed Andy le Roux (Fleet runner, super bloke, now connected on Strava) had both registered for the Masters competition during the previous 48 hours. Here are my stats.
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| Next time... |
Initially I felt a bit crushed. So much effort, so close, but no cigar. But by the end of the day I had become a lot more upbeat about it. I was close, and that's great. The quest continues, and it'll be all the sweeter when I get it. The journey is proving to be a lot of fun.
