Sunday 11 March 2012

Sevenoaks Rotary 10k Knole Park

Well its been a while, and although I have kept up my running, Feb-ab-ulous didn't really happen as I intended, no real reason, just continued with the running.
Today though I ran the Sevenoaks 10k at Knole Park, this was my first 10k, and it was to be on my own too, due to Copy7t's abused hamstrings, he made the sensible decision to sit this one out.
I headed down on my own, so An & the boys didn't have to sit around for an hour waiting. Once I got there I walked straight into Copy7t, Nev & Lime who had still turned out to watch, which was much appreciated, as it was nice to have someone there that knew what was happening, where to go etc
I got my chip and as I went to fit it, I got a tap on the shoulder "Didn't know you was into all this fitness lark" (something like that anyway), I turned to see Kevin Burness with Fiona & the boys. I knew Kev had run the London Marathon before but didn't realise he was still running , having checked out his facebook page I saw he was running the Hasting Half Marathon in memory of his late father, and to raise money for Cancer Research. A quick chat and that was the last I saw of him for the day, I did see Fiona watching on the first lap, and she told me he was ahead (turned out he ran a 48min and was about 75 places ahead of me).
Me, 7t, Nev & Lime wandered across to the start, and the number of runners started to dawn on me as we all crammed into a narrow steep footpath, as we reached the start area, copy7t was saying about how hard it is to get through the crowd at the start and so its worth trying to get nearer the front so I got myself about halfway, though there was still a lot in front of me
Could hear something over a distance speaker, and then the crowd start to move, so I figured we were off, it was just walking to start with and a jog started by the chip line. Trying to manoeuvre the crowd was tricky, I thought I would just run with it to start with until it thinned out but then people start going round me I felt like I was going backwards, so utilising my London motorbiking filtering skills with plenty of shoulder checks I cut through and out of the jam to the edge and start to push past some of the traffic, though the long grass hid a few holes/ditches.
The group eventually started to stretch out, and you could concentrate on the pace rather than bumping in to the rest of the pack. the track seemed to be a long slight incline and the I saw the hill that 7t had warned me of, it was quite short but nasty steep, I got up it and not long after I saw the 2k marker, a quick glance at my phone and it said 12mins, that meant a 60min but I want 50min so need to speed up a bit. fortunately the track to 'road' and the hills started to roll downwards, so I took advantage and run past a few others, after the double back you hit the top straight which was lined with spectators, and I saw my Mum, Dad, Wife and the dogs, I offered them to join me for the second half but no one took me up on the offer, then I saw the boys up a tree ( they also declined my offer). Then I saw 7t with his camera (photo's to follow) as we ran down the hill and started the second lap, all was going well and at the 6km mark I saw that I had clawed back some of the lost time from the start (31:13) then I saw the hill, I was determined to run it, and despite people walking 3 abreast I got round them and reached the top, this was the point where my breakfast took an interest in the proceedings and tried to reappear. I was determine not to let that happen but that meant stopping and walking for a bit. I walked longer than I wanted to but need to get my stomach back under control if I was to finish. Too many people were passing and so off I went. When I reach the down hill section this time I figured I would just maintain pace as I was now focused on finishing rather than hitting my time. The spectators had all moved to the finish line, and all though a sprint finish wasn't going to happen, I made sure I was stood tall, head up and running strong for the finish, my family had secured a spot just on the chipline and so a couple high 5's were given by the boys.
Once through the funnel, and banana & water collected, we all grouped up, and had a good chat, then 7t, Nev & Lime went home, whilst the family and myself sat around for a picnic lunch.
So another race run I know have an official 10k time of 54:13 (gun) or 53:44 (chip) and another Medal
Next event is 3 weeks away and an extra 12km on top with the Paddock Wood Half marathon on 1st April