Pitchcroft 10k (Race 2 of 2)

After Fridays jaunt up and down the mountains I was looking forward to a flat race around Worcesters race course Pitchcroft, definitely no hills there. The 10k would consist of 3 laps around the perimeter with another kids fun run starting just before.. this time I knew the medal I was looking at was mine as the fun runners were being awarded with certificates. I ended up going out in town drinking the night before which didn't help with my organizational skills the morning of the race as when I arrived at the car park I realised I didn't have my hat with me nor had I bought or put on any suncream oh well I'll finish like a lobster.

I made my way to the start line with Cindy who was running this as her first race and we positioned ourselves near the middle of the pack with the hope of not getting too caught up with the front runners. An announcement at the start made us aware that there were some competitive runners in the field today, we were also given a safety talk on running in the heat and told if we start to feel faint and need to stop don't worry we will still get a medal (Oohh I wish I had  paid attention in drama class at school!) We were off and like a fool I started running too fast not gaining a steady pace I ran the first mile in 9:10 minutes a lot faster than my usual 10:30 and far to fast considering the heat, time to slow it down by the second mile I was running along side a man who introduced himself to me as Tim this was his first race and he had no idea how well he was doing or how fast he was going, he said he liked the pace I was running maybe a bit slower. We ended up chatting for a while and we ran the second mile together in 9:57 so a little slower which was good. I had no intention of going for a pb today I just wanted to finish but knowing the course I was slightly disappointed it was so hot as it's got serious pb potential. By mile 3 Tim and I had settled into a nice pace and he was happy pacing himself with me to get to the finish.  We had the odd walk breaks to cool down and had a natter with Cindy who would come past every so often. We ended up getting lapped by around 7 people all of whom would run up behind us really quick and shout "LEFT" I had no idea if this meant I was too move left or they were coming down the left so I ended up getting in the way more than they would have liked!

At the start of the second lap and drink station I promptly threw a cup of water down my back to cool down and carried on running, the next few miles we slowed down more with a 10:31 & 11:03 minute miles but were still running faster than Tim is used to so kept it nice and steady. Running past the drink station for the last time on the 3rd lap and I simply threw the cup of water in my own face I was dripping with sweat and although I was now soaked through and probably going to end up with a frizzy fringe it was more than welcome. With the finish in sight with all the crowd cheering and clapping on the stands I decided I had a little bit left in me and went for the sprint finish though I wasn't in competition with anyone this time I still went for it. My final time was 1:03:58 and I was delighted when I got home and uploaded the route from my garmin that it was a pb! How I managed to pull a pb out with two races in three days one of them being really tough and both being extremely hot I do not know.

I'll definitely do Pitchcroft again next year and see if I can shave some more time off. All in all a great racing weekend.