This isn't the sort of race which I would normally sign up for. However, it's part of the Hampshire Road Race League which is quite theme for Lordshill and I'm enjoying the tour of new events. I was looking forward to this because the course has the reputation of being stupefyingly dull and I was curious to find out just how remarkably boring a course can be.
The day was mild and damp, although thankfully dry on arrival. I wasn't feeling terribly energetic on arrival but I had a decent warm up, said hello to lots of friendly faces and set off in the quest for adventure amid the prosaic.
The first few hundreds metres were tricky in a rapidly narrowing thoroughfare and some tight bends. I kept tucked in behind my mortal rival Andy Parkinson for the first km or so the moved past him and thought no more about him.
 |
| Near the start, behind Andy |
The course didn't disappoint. The laps around the corporate carpark were iconic in their mundanity. There were a couple of 'careful now' moments, but the jeopardy was in the context of flat tarmac and some kerbs. Disappointingly, there was a relatively interesting section where we got a view of the lake, but it was quite fleeting. The rain started halfway, but you never really notice moderate rain during a race.
In the final section I was overtaken and overtaking in equal measure. I found myself gaining on someone in a Romsey vest. I pushed and strained to catch him, but ended up two seconds behind him - and it was John Wheatley. Little did I know that Andy had been gunning to get me, and finished two seconds behind me. Had I not been gunning to take John out, I may well have been eclipsed by my deadly rival. Phew.
 |
| Last lap, and Andy is not far behind me |
I finished in a chip time of 31:05, 132nd place and 4th in category. Here are my stats. A terrific way to spend a soggy winter morning.
 |
| The Lordshill crew |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.