Southsea parkrun

          I got up at 6am and it was still dark. I couldn't see the wind or rain but I could certainly hear it. Do I really want to make all this effort for a parkrun I thought? I had breakfast and drank my coffee which gave me more time to ponder over this question. I really wanted to do Winchester parkrun but they were doing a "naked running" parkrun thing. I felt like racing today and getting myself a good time. I had only been on a diet for a week but was feeling fitter and lighter already and the 20.21 I got at Cardiff parkrun the previous week had really gave me some confidence.

       I walked from my house into Shirley and got a bus to the train station and it was still dark but it was only raining lightly and the winds had died down. Things were improving! I got the train at 7.13 and had to change at Fareham but I was in Portsmouth by 8.15. It's quite a way from the train station and took me about 25 minutes to walk. Which was a good warm up for the legs. The parkrun starts near the Southsea pyramids centre which is pretty much where the Great south run starts. Although it is actually closer to the start of the Portsmouth coastal marathon which is behind the centre. There is a massive shelter where people gather under and it's also ideal to leave your bag there as I was worried my i-pod and phone would get wet but that didn't matter because by now the sun was out and shining brightly over the sea. It was a beautiful sight to see so early in the morning.

        We were briefed on the course and told to make our way to the start line. This was only the 2nd ever Southsea parkrun and there were already over 100 runners. At the start line I saw a familiar face that was Danny White from our running club. I managed to get in a quick greeting and then we were off.
You basically ran along the seafront towards the south pier and when you got half way you went around a cone and came back. This may sound boring but it isn't. It's fast and flat. On the way out the wind was against us and all I could hear was the wind in my ears. To my right was the wonderful sight on the sun glowing over the water. There were very few pedestrians on course which was also great. Despite the wind I was still able to run my first mile in 6 minutes and 27 seconds (and the same for the second mile). As soon as I rounded the cone and was on my way back there was silence. I no longer had the sound of the wind in my ears. The wind was now behind me I guess. This doesn't mean that running became easier though. I was now panting hard and it felt like I had sold my soul to the running devil for this parkrun. I had to dig deep and it felt like I was slowing down, but I wasn't. My garmin told me that I had run 3.12 miles in 19 minutes and 58 seconds! That's my fastest 5K in 3 years. I was so happy with the time and then spoke to Danny and found out that he had won in a time on 17 minutes and 35 seconds. I had came 17th which was a brilliant achievement for me.

       

           Those doubts I had in the morning whether it was worth the hassle to make this journey to parkrun were now eradicated. I spent the rest of the day so happy and wanted to tell the world that I had gone sub 20  and only for the 2nd time. I think I was more excited about this than anything else that I had achieved so far this year. I later found out that my official time was 19 minutes and 59 seconds. Just sub 20, but sub 20 all the same ;)

The 2013 Cardiff half Marathon

           I was woken by my alarm at 6am in a hotel in Bridgend. All I had to do now was wake up Mikey in the room next door, shower, make coffee and put on my race attire. We were on the road for 7am and driving down the M4 towards Cardiff. With 19,000 runners, we thought parking may prove challenging and the roads for the race were closing at 8am as well. The plan was to park and get breakfast. There was a fair bit of traffic but we found an NCP carpark which would end up costing us £18 something and then tried to hunt down somewhere to eat. Time was running out though. I usually eat two hours before a race but we ended up in a waitrose at about 8.15. I had a scotch egg and a pain au chocolat with a lucozade (weird I know) and I think Mikey ate about 6 hot cross buns and 2-3 pain au chocolats with coffee. There was a bit of confusion here as Mikey thought that the race started at 9.30 and I thought it started at 9am. We had to check the guide book and of course I was right. Which meant we were running out of time. We had 15 minutes to get to the baggage area which wasn't too bad but we both needed the toilet pretty desperately. We quickly got changed and headed for the portaloos where we had to queue.

            I remember getting in the portaloo at 8.58 and coming out at 8.59. A number two PB for me probably! We then ran to the start and were directed through the castle. We were already running pretty fast just to get to the start on time. We didn't get to the start on time as we missed our "Orange wave" group. We were the runners who were attempting a time of 1.30-1.45. Instead we ended up running near the back of the "Green wave" who were running 1.45-2.00. It was hard to get started with all the slower runners and seemed pointless battling away to overtake such a vast amount of runners. Mikey was trying harder than me and I didn't want to lose him so I did my best to keep up with him. Surprisingly enough we managed to run our first mile in roughly 7.30. We knew there was a 1.45 pacer and we had planned to catch him and overtake him at some point. Mikey had a half marathon PB of around 1.39 so we would try and continue with the 7.30 minute mile as an average pace.

         So many people think that the Cardiff half is a fast, flat course but there are undulations. The worst uphill being at mile 12. The course has changed a couple of times over the years and I believe it used to be flat. I had run a PB on this course the previous year though with a 1.31.06. We were asked by some runners what time we were going for and what mile were we at etc.. They were trying to gauge if they should be ahead or behind us I guess. At mile 6, an announcement of our running time came out through a loudspeaker. I checked my watch and worked out that we had started the race Three minutes late! Thank god for chip timing is all I could think.

       Other memorable moments were running through Cardiff bay and all the cheering supporters that surrounded us. There was music playing from a loudspeaker which helped motivate me and give me a boost. There was also a band who played to us. We passed a fellow Lordshill runner at about mile 3 but we didn't know who it was. We also passed a speedy Winchester lady at mile 12 and had passed the 1.45 pacer. Things were looking good but I was feeling tired and wasn't chatting as much as I usually did. It actually felt a bit like racing..lol. It felt like there were supporters all the way from mile 12 to the finish. Both sides of the streets were filled with encouraging supporters which gave me goose bumps and made me want to run faster than I actually could.

       I sped ahead and crossed the line but Mikey wasn't far behind. My time this year was 1.38.24 and Mikey's time was 1.38.29. It was a half marathon PB for him. Which we didn't know until we got home. I staggered about in a daze collecting my medal, a technical t-shirt. One benefit of being fat is that there wasn't a queue for the XL t-shirts ;) I then got a goody bag as well. Grabbed a banana and a milkshake too. (Even though the milkshake had curdled to Mike's amusement as he watched me spit out a big lump of chocolate).

     We collected our bags and waited for my cousin Selina (with me and Colin in the above pic) who was also running. She had finished in just over two hours (but not according to her watch to her annoyance). We then thought we'd go and hang out with Colin Jackson and get our photo taken with him before hitting Nandos for some food and conversation about the amazing event. Such a great day and I have now done it two years in a row and would happily do it again. Mikey really enjoyed it and said it was really well organised. We were told that they managed to get 19,000 runners running within 7 minutes. Now that's great organisation! We went home very tired but very happy and after the race I had made it to 999 miles of running for the year. This was also my 40th race in the 3+ years when I started running and became an addict.

Cardiff parkrun 05/10/13

Mikey was on time at 6am on the Saturday morning, which surprised me. All the windows were  open in the car and he apologised for the strong smell of petrol due to some sort of car problem. It was still dark and as we travelled I was wondering if it was ever going to get light again, but of course it did eventually. We had decided to do Cardiff parkrun which starts at 9am. That gave us plenty of time to hit the M4, pay to go across the Japanese bridge and get to Cardiff. We got there somehow, despite the  sat-nav being pretty useless. Getting to Cardiff was fine but finding the park was a little trickier. It's probably pretty easy to find but we are eons away from being the smartest double act in the world. We quizzed other runners who pointed us in the right direction. We parked in the Tesco extra car park which has 3 hours of free parking and a toilet for the parkrunners who were in desperate need, like me and Mikey. Only one cubicle was vacant while the other was out of order. I felt bad that I snaked ahead of him and locked the door quickly denying him access. There were only 15 minutes until the start but we both managed to go in time and run to the start with a few minutes remaining.

The Cardiff parkrun is a 3.1 mile or 5K out and back route with a loop at halfway and it’s run  along a place named “the taff trail”. It’s a nice concrete pavement route shaded by trees and next to a river. Then the course goes into an open park where the loop and point of return is. The sun was shining brightly and the temperature was great for the time of the year. We managed to catch up with Emily Brent from our running club who is also at Cardiff uni. She told us that the start is quite congested for the  first 1 kilometer because of the narrow path and the number of runners. There were nearly 500 runners in previous weeks and there were quite a few 16 minute finshers every week! 

Of course with all the chatting we hadn’t started near enough to the front as we should have. We expected a horn to sound like Southampton parkrun but nothing was heard, I guess we should have been  paying attention. This meant that I started my watch late and ended up with a 3 second discrepancy. Oh well, what’s 3 seconds eh? The speech at the beginning was no more than a minute long which I thought was awesome (Southampton take note!) 

Me and Mikey raced our way through the crowds. Oh well no PB today, just enjoy the course we thought. But even with this congested start I had still managed to run my first mile in  6 mins and 27 secs! That is a super fast first mile for me. The whole course was feeling like it was on a slight downhill gradient. At first I was chasing Mikey and struggling to keep up with  him, I had now left him behind and decided to try and average 6.30 min/miles for a PB or something close to my 19.56 that I ran 2 years ago or so. Halfway through though I could already feel myself beginning to tire. The legs were fine but the breathing wasn't.  I could feel the excess weight of my stomach. It felt exaggerated and I found it difficult to circulate my breathing due to this. "I;m too fat", I said to myself. "I am going to diet after this weekend, a proper diet. I will get that sub 20 time again!"  

             I had finished in 42nd place with a time of 20.21 which was my fastest parkrun time in 18+ months. My watch was showing a 3.1 mile time of 20.18. I was super thrilled and Mikey didn't arrive much later in 60th place with a 21.01. He wasn’t so happy with his time though. Struggling with this parkrun had made me decide that I would not race the Cardiff half the next day and I would not hunt down the 1.30 pacer. I’d run with Mikey and the miles in my legs for an upcoming marathon instead. We both had an 8 item breakfast at Tesco plus a cake for Mikey of course. The place was full of hungry parkrunners and we chatted to a few of them including a Scottish man from St.Andrews who had come down for his 50th parkrun. This then made me wonder where I would do my 50th parkrun (if I ever got there). I was now on 19 runs and Mikey on 29. We discussed where we might do our 50th parkrun and  then off to our hotel in Bridgend we went for a  much needed shower.

The Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1. My first ultra distance of 50k

The Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 is an event set up bythe firefighters charity.  There are various options to choose from. Walk or run and then the distances of 10k, 21k, 30k, 42k and 50k. I had been contemplating on entering the 50k event for some time but the distance seemed so daunting. Could I cover the 31 mile distance? This would be my first ultra-marathon and I had only ever completed two other marathons previously. 

As time past, me and a buddy Mike from the running club spoke about it and said we’d give it some thought as Patrick from our club was apparently already running it. We entered and said we’d just run it together slowly and making sure we just got round and finished. No pressure then! 

On the big day I found out that Patrick wasn’t running it after-all even though he had talked me and Mike into it. Pretty funny really, but we needed something to believe in to be mad enough to enter in the first place right? We collected our numbers and info packs from the fire station in Salisbury. I had decided against running with my rucksack in the end and just took a bumbag with a flapjack, a couple of energy gels, some toilet roll (you never know!) and most importantly, Vaseline to stop the chafing. 

The event is called the 5-4-3-2-1 because of the route and all the great scenery and landmarks that you get to take in on the way round. 

There are: 

5 rivers; Avon/Bourne/Ebble/Nadder and Wylye.

4 hills; Old Sarum/King Manor/Clearbury Hill Fort and Salisbury Race Course.

3 large country estates; Clarendon/Longford and Wilton.

2 castles; Old Sarum and Longford.

1 cathedral; Salisbury cathedral with a 404ft spire. 

We started off at 9am and it was really quite slow to start with but we didn’t mind this as we had 50k to cover anyway. The 50k and 42k walkers had already set off at 8am and other distances would follow at various times after us. We had to walk a fair bit on the first two miles of the 10k loop due to the number of runners, narrow pathways and turnstiles. We heard other runners talking about their training for 100 mile races and that the best way to do it was to run 50 mile races back to back. Did me and Mikey belong here? What had we gotten ourselves into? No turning back now. Just keep running and walk when you have to. Remember, this is not a race. Enjoy. 

The first 10k we were running on wooden boardwalks with wire mesh over the top and this was next to a river and woodland. A few turnstiles later we were running into and along fields. Within two miles Mikey wanted to stop at the checkpoint for cake. Two miles or so in and he wanted to eat cake already! I don’t know how he does it. After the first 10k the route joins on to the marathon route. At some point some speedy runners flew past us. They were from the 30k event. We saw Valeria from the New forest runners fly past us and managed to exchange a few comments with her before she disappeared and won the first woman in that category. Not surprising really as only one other woman passed us about three minutes after her!

There were many beautiful views along the way with lots of undulations and the four big hills of course. The castles were stunning and it was so nice to run in the private country estates that had been kept in pristine condition. The most memorable place was the woodland of yew trees. It was dark and shaded us from the sun. It was very cool and the ground was so soft like carpet beneath our feet. We took our time and actually walked through this bit following the red string to the other side. There was also the Salisbury horse racing course that we ran alongside. It was so great to have such a variety of terrain to run on. There is no way you’d ever get bored of running on this route. So much to see and take in. One minute you are running through the woods with the cool wind and shade and the next you could be running on a bridge over a river in the beaming sunshine. 

I seemed to be achy and tired approaching the 13 mile mark though. How come? Hamstring felt tight and my mind was struggling to stay positive. I kept most of this negativity to myself though. Maybe I was dehydrated? At the next checkpoint I made sure that I ate and drank plenty. Two miles later, I was feeling good again. Legs never felt so good in fact and the hamstring pain had disappeared after those two miles. Mike and myself spoke and joked a fair bit and i’d say most of the way. We decided to walk up the bigger hills for efficiency. We walked when we were eating cake. We chatted to others at the checkpoints. This didn’t feel like a race at all but it sure felt like an adventure and a challenge. We were having the best time ever. I remember hitting the streets at mile 26 and thinking about how good I felt. I had run a marathon distance and the next 5 miles didn’t seem a problem or even daunting like I had first thought. My optimism was at an all time high. Only 5 miles to go! Easy. 

We passed the Cathedral, the grounds were busy and we were weaving in and out of people and as we ran closer to the town we had more people to manoeuvre around. Not an easy feat when you had already ran 30 miles. I gave Mikey the countdown. Half a mile to go, quarter of a mile to go. OK, let’s sprint. And we both did. I couldn’t believe it. We still had enough in us for a sprint finish. Or what felt like a sprint finish anyway. We collected our medals and lay in the middle of the carpark for a few minutes. I then staggered bare foot over to the ice-cream van and bought us an ice cold can of coca-cola each that I had been fantasizing about for the last four or five miles. 

When we got to the pub to meet the other runners from our club we were greeted with applause and cheers as we walked through the doors. This was so awesome! We were on top of the world. We ordered food but I wasn’t feeling hungry but as soon as the food arrived I was starving. 

   We had finished the 50k/31 mile race in 5 hours and 13 minutes. We had 5 hours in mind but weren’t too bothered on a time and were super proud of our achievement to finish. We ate lots of cake on the way round, plus bananas, oranges and plums. This day will be remembered by me forever. Such a great day and a great event. We will be back next year to get our sub-five. Watch this space ;) Thanks to the marshals who were very supportive, humourous and kept us going all the way around. You guys are the best.

The Wales half marathon

Ok, so I was talked into the Wales half marathon by my cousin in Carmarthen who said she was going to do it as well. She didn’t enter and she didn’t run it. I was left to run it alone and didn’t really know what to expect as I couldn’t find a course profile showing me the elevation etc.. All I knew is that I hadn’t raced a half marathon for a while due to injury and wanted to try for a PB which would mean a sub 1hr 30 finish and an average mile of 6 mins and 45 secs. 

The race starts from Pembroke castle and finishes in Tenby. You get free entry to the castle for yourself and whoever is with you as long as you remember to print off your vouchers. We walked about the castle on the hottest day of the year. We had a little bit of trouble getting there as they close off some of the roads for the race. The organisers claim that this is the only race in Wales with fully closed roads. The marathon starts at 10am but the half starts at midday and joins the second half of the marathon route. We were told to make our way to the start by exiting the castle and walking down the main road. I didn’t realise how far back I was in the line as I could see swarms of people ahead of me when walking down the hill. As we walked, some of the marathon runners passed us and we shouted words of encouragement. It seemed like a pretty long way to the start but we started running and I wasn’t even sure of where the start was but I started my watch on what I thought may have been the chip timing mat. 

For the first two miles I was doing great with sub 7 minute miles but soon after that I had slowed down and by mile 3 was walking up a hill due to the heat and my body overheating. There goes my sub 1 hr 30! This was proving to be a really challenging course due to all the hills and the heat. I couldn’t wait to get to the water station for water to pour over my neck and shoulders as I was burning in the sun. There was little shade on these country lanes. 

I had decided to walk up every hill and run on every down and what little flat there was. We ran through various little villages and the support from all the locals was overwhelming. Everyone came out of their houses to support and were either offering us food and drink or were offering to spray us with hosepipes whereas others had sprinkler systems going that we could run under for a brief and refreshing shower. 

I really felt like quitting after 10k but this was solely due to the heat and the sun beating down and burning me. I thought about my welsh family and dad waiting for me at the finish line. I couldn’t let them down, they had travelled to watch me finish and had put in a lot of effort to be here. I had to finish but if they weren’t there I think I would have probably pulled out. 

A bit later my spirits improved as we climbed more hills and got closer to the coastline. At last, there was a breeze and the sun was briefly obscured by the clouds. 

I was now chatting to the occasional person and making the odd joke. I had this girl who ran past me on every hill I walked up but I always passed her on the flat and downhill, She made the comment that she was now getting used to the sound of my footsteps coming from behind her on the flats and downhill, 

This was definitely no PB course but who cares. I think i valued the experience much more. In fact, I finished around 1hr 50 which is my worst half marathon time ever and that’s saying something if I finished the South Downs half 15 minutes quicker! The finish was brilliant as I ran into Tenby and the crowds cheered. I heard my name called as I tried to sprint for the finish on the red carpet. I was a little worried when I had finished as the marshals rushed over to me and asked if I was alright. I obviously wasn’t! I felt like headed and very dizzy. A bit disorientated in fact. I just had to keep walking. My dad was asking questions but I couldn’t really answer any of them. It was too hard to digest any sort of words. I walked to Tenby beach and walked into the sea to cool my feet down. Slight heat exhaustion I think. I said to myself that I would never run a race again in that kind of heat but we easy forget the pain and suffering afterwards. It was a great race with fantastic support and i’d happily do it again.

So'ton to Fareham

I have had this run in mind for some time but other things always seemed to be happening or me being lazy.
 It is very rare that I run over to the East side of Southampton and the furthest I have previously run to is Bitterne, a mere 5-6 miles away. I was hoping to run to Fareham or Portchester castle. I would try and run to Fareham and if I felt good I would run to Portchester which is around the 20 mile mark, only an additional 3 miles from Fareham. These two places both have train stations so that was my way home. I checked google maps for a route that was pretty simple. Mostly the A27 all the way. There are bound to be much nicer routes but I don't know them and didn't want to get lost or run down to dead ends like I usually do and add about another 10 miles to my run.

      I packed my rucksack with water, clean socks, shorts, a t-shirt, flapjack and a couple of energy gels. Phone, wallet, keys etc.. Headed off sometime after 10am to make sure that I would miss the rush hour traffic and all the pollution. I was feeling good but wanted to average my miles around the 8.30 mark to ensure that I would actually get there and not burn out.
      I chose a more scenic route to Bitterne via the sports centre and the common, then through woodmill. I had now done a 10k and was running up that pretty big hill towards Bitterne precinct. Maybe I wasn't feeling as great as I had first thought! It was now pretty much a straight line to Fareham via the A27 with the exception of the roundabouts. Another big hill next to the Harefield estate and then I reached Thornhill.
Into Bursledon and Lower Swanwick which had some nice downhill and flat. Until I reached Sarisbury green. This was the biggest hill of the day and it was so humid out there. I had to stop at the top of the hill to change t-shirts and drink water and eat something. I was feeling weak already!

    After cooling down for 5 mins I resumed my run and felt much better for the rest. Only 12 miles in though. Why was this run so much hard work today? I had been reading a lot of books on Ultra running lately so my efforts today seemed pretty poor to me but now I am happy enough with my achievement and know that I will try this challenge again and run it better.

   Onto Parkgate and then Segensworth. I must admit I went a bit mental at Segensworth roundabout and lost it with a driver who accelerated towards me at the lights when I was running across. I swore abuse at him as loud as I could why others stared at my moment of lunacy. I glad he didn't get out of his car cos I was super angry at this point. This was soon forgotten and onto Titchfield I ran.

   I got to 15 miles and decided to walk up a hill. How far is Fareham from here? Turns out it was only 2 more miles and I made it okay but didn't feel I had the strength to make it to Portchester castle.
It was a great run and I really enjoyed it. Maybe next time i'll make it Portchester or even Portsmouth!

  After those 17 miles I was soaking wet with sweat and walking through Fareham and people staring at me as I staggered about in my sweaty daze. I found a Tesco where my priority was to buy a new t-shirt and get some fruit. £4 for a t-shirt and £2 for some lovely fruit medley thingys. I changed in a park, ate my food and reflected on my run. I love these little adventures of mine. It's great to be alive and feel alive :)

The Bratton Hilly 11.4K Run

Race fever has hit me once again! I've had a taste of it and I want more. I must do something this weekend. It would be nice to get out of Southampton for a few hours. I'll just check the Runners World events page to see what's going on this weekend.
As I don't drive, I was always going to be limited with public transport so early in the morning and this is almost impossible on Sundays. Need a Saturday race but not too far away.
Bratton hilly run. Sounds interesting and it's on a Saturday morning at 11am and you can enter on the day. Google maps says it's 4.4 miles from Westbury train station. This is looking possible. I research all the travel details from buses to trains and other options etc..
 I'm still not sure. It's a £20 train journey and there is no bus from Westbury to Bratton. More expenses on a taxi or a very brisk walk to make the late entries desk in time. To top it off the weather doesn't look great but what else am I going to do this weekend if it's raining anyway?

          I pack and prepare, printing maps and making notes. It's time to go, the decision has been made. Only Four stops on the train. Romsey, Salisbury (I try to remember the third stop but can't) and then Westbury.
Westbury train station always reminds me of traveling to Devon or Cornwall. Always stuck at Westbury for an hour or so with nothing to do and waiting for the connection train to arrive.

       I decide to walk when I get to Westbury. It's only Ten past Nine and late entry is open until 10.30. 4.4 miles in 1hr 20 mins? Should be fine. I pretty much get lost straight away even with a map! I end up in the city centre and ask the locals for directions. The directions are superb and put my google map to shame. Stupid google maps. This still didn't stop me from walking down a path for half a mile that only led me to someone's front door though.Had to turn back.

          I got to see the White horse of Westbury on the way too. This is the first time I have seen it up close. Usually I would just pass it from far away on the train. An awesome view from the bottom of the hill.
Right Dean Jones, no more photos, got to get to the race and register. I had now run out of pavement though and was running down a narrow busy country lane, dodging the traffic coming in each direction. I get used to this with google maps even though I always select the walking option. A car overtakes but stops in front of me. I go to the passenger window. "Going to the race in Bratton? Want a lift?" Bob and his wife are from Avon Valley running club. Bob is the V50 winner from last year and his wife is the race timer today. Lovely people and they tell me about the race and to watch out for that hill at the start that I read so much about on the Runners world reviews. Not sure I would have made it in time without them but when I got there I had plenty of time. Everyone is so so friendly and welcoming. I get chatting to other runners from other clubs. Avon Valley runners, Dorset Doddlers, Gillingham runners etc.. Everyone warns me about the first hill. "Last year was the first time I made it up that hill without walking you know" says an old man from Fordingbridge who runs for Dorset Doddlers. We warm up together, running back and forth exchanging racing stories. This guy is awesome I thought to myself.

       
 How many times have we heard about hilly races and they haven't been that bad. "Look out for the big hills" and then they aren't actually that bad and have been exaggerated. This was different... I broke at 0.88 of a mile and started to walk. My garmin later showed that this first hill is a mile long and 128 metres in elevation. Once I got to the top I started running again and was able to take in some scenery. The views from the top were amazing and you could see miles and miles of Wiltshire countryside. As only 110 runners took part, there was no congestion whatsoever. I love these races. It started to drizzle but the effects were cooling and much welcomed along with the breeze cooling my perspiring face. It still felt hot.
        There was a nice long downhill section but in the distance you could see like a mirror image. So the steep hill we were flying down now, we would running up in a mile or so. I ran as fast as I could down that hill. I was again walking part of the uphill. This was one very challenging race and the drizzle had now turned into a proper downpour and the winds were slightly stronger but I was loving this.

       It was mostly views of fields and farms and we were running on gravel tracks. No signs of life out here apart from us runners. Alone with our thoughts, battling on to catch the next runner or trying not to be overtaken from the runner behind. Must push on, want a top 20 finish. Come on Dean. Got to the 10K marker and I was flying past runners downhill. 1K to go! I was enjoying the looks of disappointment as I past my fellow runners. I was going as fast as I could now. Only 0.6 of a mile right? Wrong! I had reached an 11K marker and was slightly confused. The course now went up a steep hill again. I had to walk to get my breath back and then I remembering reading that it's actually an 11.4K race even though it says 11K. Doesn't sound like much does it? The marshals were shouting words of encouragement at the top of the hill. "It's a downhill finish when you reach us" I was past by a runner from Leicester. I dug deep and ran. I stayed with him but didn't have the strength to pass him. I could see the finish and the cheering supporters. This was brilliant.

My Official finishing time was 53.43 and I had came 26th. Couldn't be happier with my time and my run. Got chatting to the Avon valley runner who organised the day and thanked him. Got invited to the pub with the other runners after the award ceremony. I was told that the reason that there are so many runners from Birstall running club in Leicester is because they do it every year and it was their massive coach that delayed the start by 10-15 mins. Not that anyone cared. Nice laid back attitude and lots of encouraging friendly people. I can't wait to do this race again next year on the 10th of May. I got a nice mug and a bottle of water at the finish as well. The winner had run it in 41 minutes.

       After the pub it was time to walk back to Westbury but via the bridleway and not the main road. Bit safer I reckon. I took the path but it wasn't too long until I got lost again and ended up walking up steep hills again and before I knew it I was above the White horse this time and the views were amazing but the winds were so severe. So I got an even closer look at Wiltshire and the White horse.

I got to the carpark on top of the White horse. It seemed too dangerous to walk along the paths now as the winds were ferocious, so I decided to take the road back down the hill but then was offered a lift back to Westbury by man in a van with his dog. Hopefully I wasn't going to be murdered. He was a painter and decorator who loved rambling. We exchanged walking stories as his dog Snoopy sat on me and kept on trying to lick my face. What an awesome day. He drove me all the way to the train station as well. And to think I was contemplating staying at home and doing nothing today!