Cheltenham: A Day At The Races
Boxing Day 4 Miler (26 Dec) and Pilot Inn 4 Miler (27 Dec)
Keen to get back up and running after a recent injury, I found 2 races down in Cheltenham, where we were spending Christmas with the in-laws. I’d have preferred a 10k rather than two four milers, as it usually takes me four miles to find my pace.
The first 4 miler was at Cheltenham race course, which I assumed would be pancake flat like Musselburgh, but alas not, and my other assumption, was that it would be a road race. Luckily the ‘may be muddy in places’ and ‘quite challenging multi terrain’ on the website gave me an incline that it was actually a cross country, so on Christmas Eve I did some extra Christmas shopping for myself and bought my first pair of XC trainers.
I checked out my PB for a 4 miler which was this year's Portobello Road Race at 28:50. Bert once told me that when you wear the club vest it takes 5 minutes off your time, but he didn’t specify the distance, and 24 minutes is a big ask.
The weather was good, sunny, cold, but icy in overshadowed areas. A big turnout in numbers, as there was a 2 miler as well, and good few hundred at the starting point of the 4 miler. A lot of club runners from the area, Tetbury Royals, Almost Athletes (website good for local events), CLC Striders (good website; I liked ‘find your race pace’), Severn AC, Gloucester AC, Cheltenham Harriers etc and a solo PRC (me).
The first part of the course was a 1 mile circuit, mostly on hard standing, which was a sharp up, long slow down then a slow up to the start point, and the second part, 3 miles, was the racecourse circuit (only fools and horses surely), mostly on trail, and grass, which was a long slow icy downhill, long boggy flat, a long slow uphill followed by a sharp up (back off the racecourse to hard surfaces), then short downhill finish.
I got a good start and did the first mile in 6:30 which is at the sharp end of my pace, and managed to surge through a bunch of Royals who were clearly chatting about Xmas dinner and the merits of duck, goose and turkey (A Bert Truism would say they weren't focusing on the race!), The next 2 miles were also good going at 6:50, but never having done the mud, trail and grass thing, I found it difficult to keep the pace of the main group. The terrain was undulating, muddy, and at one point, due to ice, we were diverted through scrub and trees. It got very muddy again at the three mile marker, before returning back onto a hard track for the long slow uphill, which merged into a sharp incline. I could really feel the hill on my legs but pushed hard up to the peak, passing a waning Gloucester AC. Finding my legs tiring for the final 400 yard downhill stretch to the finish, I was given a ‘Come on Portobello’ shout from a surging Carnegie Harrier, which gave me a boost and used her as a pace to finish a handful of seconds behind. My ‘just out of the box’ Garmin (must learn how to use it properly) reckons I did it in 26.54, with the final uphill mile at a paltry 7:30, however a PB none the less and my first cross country, a good morning's work! (Full results www.boxingdaychallenge.com).
Race 2 the next day was the Pilot Inn, another 4 Miler. I didn’t feel great this morning, the rest of the family have the cold and I may be going the same way, and against the advice I set off for the race. The Pilot is a scrappy wee inn beside a lock on a canal, and it looked flat all around. Registering I got a recycled number which I had to hand in at the end (I liked this idea), ‘McMillan as in the prime minister’, the official asked (very different generation), and then when I gave the club name she was clearly delighted to have a non district runner, although she could barely understand me with a hoarse voice on top of my accent.
A fairly big gathering of hardcore club runners (no santas here today), although different club vests from yesterday, Stroud and Severn were definitely out in force today. Around eighty runners I guess. The course was an accurate 4 miler (unlike yesterday which was 3.89 miles), a flat road run along a minor and straight country with a sharp hill at the end up into a nearby village then back.
I got a good frontline position and a fast first mile at 6:08, steady on Ian! But found my normal pace on the second mile without losing position. I hit the half way point in just under thirteen minutes, which was good going, could I manage under 26 I wondered? I pushed hard on the next mile and caught up on a runner during the third mile, but in the final half mile found around 4 ‘strong finishers’ right behind me, but I just couldn’t keep pushing hard enough, although on the final stretch I heard another fast approaching, but he wasn’t going to have it, so pulled out the stops and blasted across the finish line.
My watch reckoned 26:30 with an average pace of 6:37 per mile. (6:08, 6:48, 6:44, 6:48) A new PB from yesterday, magic, I’ll take that! Given I’ve only been running a year, joining the club in September, it was a great finish to the year. Roll on 2010 and back to Bert’s speedwork along the prom, Ma Foremans, and ‘strong finishes’. Thanks for all the help PRC. (Full results www.severnac.co.uk)
Reports by Ian McMillan
