As I mentioned briefly yesterday, this week has been a bit of a killer work wise and as a result I haven't done a huge amount of running.
However, this meant I got onto the start line of the third fixture of the Surrey League feeling relatively rested. The race was in Teddington at a fairly nondescript parkland area next to Teddington Lock. I'm not sure why it was held here given its proximity to Richmond Park which has some great courses. The race route was flat throughout out with hard patches along the tow path and soft very muddy sections of grass.
I spotted Phil Wicks, the winner of the previous week's County Champs warming up, plus a couple of other runners such as Alex Bruce Littlewood who had not been present the week before. As a result the front end of the field looked stronger than the week before.
The race went off fast and a group of about 12 of us went through the first mile at a very quick pace. I suspect we were close to if not below five minute pace at that stage. Wicks, James (my flat mate) and Paskar (obviously recovered from his travels) started building the gap at this point and I sat in with a group of around seven others.
I knew I'd have to relax the pace a bit otherwise I was heading for trouble so I focused on running as quickly as I could with as little effort as possible. Just after two miles the group split again as Chris B, Liam White and Alex B-L pulled away. Paul Rodgers also came through strongly at this point and started chasing down the leaders.
I was left with a couple of my team mates running ten or twenty metres or so in front of me. That was more or less how the rest of the race unfolded, nobody came past me after this stage and I worked on trying to bridge the gap to my team mates. Towards the end of the five miles I started to reel them in as I heard the competition behind me but in the end there was a little too much to do.
The race was fast and without big hills to slow everyone down the gaps between the leaders were relatively small. I could see second and third, plus the rest of the field in front of me for the duration. I ended up finishing 10th, the same position as the last league race, although I think the field was better yesterday so I was fairly pleased with my day's work.
The main aim of the day was to make it impossible for our rivals Thames to catch our lead at the top of the table and it looks like that has probably been achieved. Herne Hill took, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th and closed the team by 30th to give ourselves a 100 point lead going into the last race in February. It's now unlikely Thames can catch us unless we have a shocker next month.
Results
HERE in Excel, follow the link. Interesting to note that's there's less than a minute between 5th and 12th showing just how hard you have to work at the end of these races. If you look back, there's always a stream of bodies coming after you!
Run summary:
25minutes warm up. Approximately 5 miles XC in 28.45. 25 minutes warm down.
Total - 10 miles.
