I've done this race twice before; once pacing Hannah Shutt a couple of years ago, and before that in a thrillingly memorable fight-to-the-finish with Alex Prinsep in 2019.
I was diverted away from the carpark I was trying to get to, but this just meant that my warmup was a jog to the start. Not feeling terribly energetic, I spent quite a while in a queue for coffee. Thus fuelled, I made my way to the start line, enjoying the pre-race buzz and chatting to RRRs and LRRs alike.
I was aiming for a 3:55 first km and I landed on this perfectly, which was pleasing, although I didn't feel quite as fresh as I had hoped. I'd done an 8-mile walk the day before, and I was hoping that this hadn't taken the edge off. But I was feeling OK. The conditions were perfect; about 11 degrees and minimal wind.
I love the drummers on this course. They're based near the furthest part of the lap (it's a 2-lap course), so you get to hear them four times. They really gave me a boost. On the return leg of the first lap I found myself in lockstep with another guy. We exchanged a few words about our targets (I said 83 to 85 minutes) and we agreed to try to stick together. I never got his name, but he took a bottle from the water station and kindly passed it on to me. But as we approached the turn, he faded.
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| My un-named companion is on my left. I thought we'd run the whole thing together. |
Into the second half, and the pace became more challenging. I was creeping over 4:00 pace. A few guys came past, but I think it was a net gain as I was catching. I always enjoy creeping past others in the last miles. At about the 11 mile marker I realised I had gone to sleep somewhat - easily done when you're on your own - and pushed the pace up a notch.
I pushed over the line in a chip time of 1:24:54, third in my category. This was way off my result from 2019, but I really hadn't trained for this, and it was six years ago. And I had scraped into my target range, so I'll gladly take that.
That's three races done for the 2025/26 Hampshire Road Race League season. I'm really enjoying it.
