What a strange race this turned out to be. This was a fund-raiser for breast cancer research and I was told to expect a lot of "mum and dad" (ie not very serious) runners. However I couldn't help noticing at the start line that most of the 300 or so runners in the 8km event were wearing Hash House Harrier and local running club colours. Hmm.
I had warmed up properly for this start (for once) but was also determined to take it slow and steady. Something around 6min/km pace would be fine. This was definitely more of a training run for me and I was under orders to take it easy.
The course was two laps of a 4k circuit around the Queen's Domain, a hill and parkland reserve right beside the city of Hobart. The road basically followed the contour and so was largely level with the exception of one nasty hill which was also a loop - down and up.
So off we go, and I do the right thing and let the field ease past me until I'm somewhere near the back, with the older ladies (most of the field were women) and a couple of girls. Even so, I was a little alarmed to reach the first km marker in 5:28. I ease up a bit (or so I think) and feel pretty comfortable, but then the second kilometre takes only 5:19. Hmm again. I ease up more (or so I think) and the third kilometre swoops by in 5:07. Gosh, I think I must be under the influence of the runners around me - I think I'm going slow, but clearly I'm not. I throw out a metaphorical anchor and ease off the back of the group of ladies I've been running with. Now I'm largely running on my own and can better assess my pace, which finally feels much more like training pace.
But! Heck, the fourth kilometre takes 8:04! What?!? That can't be right, surely - I know I've slowed down, but not
that much! The problem becomes clearer when the fifth kilometre takes just 3:49! Obviously the 4km marker was a couple of hundred metres further on that it should have been. Uh huh, so okay, a quick mental calculation and the pace feels better, closer to the 6 min I'm looking for.
The sixth kilometre takes 5:58 and now I know I'm travelling well and according to plan. But crikey, I'm a
loooong way back in the field. So, feeling good and close to home I start to pick up the pace a bit. The seventh km takes 5:24, and includes the second uphill section which I enjoy powering up (hill training paid off here) and overtake a couple of people. This is the loop in the circuit and so I can see there are exactly 20 people behind me. Which means I'm way back in the last tenth (or less) of the field. Not what I had expected, but never mind.
The race began and ended at the local athletics stadium, and so finished with a lap of the track. This was the first time I've had a track finish in a race and I loved it. I had mentally rehearsed this many times on the treadmill, and it was great to power down that last lap and finish nice and strong in 44:47, admittedly way back in the field but I'm pretty pleased. There were a lot of serious runners here after all, most of them quite bit younger than myself (or at least I like to think so). Once I had sorted my pace out, I basically ran the race I wanted, so I was happy.
I collected my goody bag and then partook of the free sports massage on offer, thinking I didn't really need it (I felt pretty good really), but discovered that my lower calfs were very tightly knotted. They hurt like blazes when the masseur stuck red hot pokers in them. Must get them worked on properly soon - I have promised my physio I would but haven't yet done so.
It wasn't until I got home that I discovered that this was actually a
PB for me! It was my 15th 8km run, but the first race over that distance, so I shouldn't really be surprised. Even so I am pleased given that I really only attempted to run this at training pace. It just shows however how difficult it is to run slowly in race conditions. And it's still a long way off my PB pace for 5k or even 10k. All in all, a good morning's race.
Manly May
