I had a couple of races planned this week. The first being the Peterborough Grand Prix 5k and the second being the Southend Half Marathon. I managed to get involved in proper race situations in both. This is how they went.
Peterborough Grand Prix 5k
I saw this race advertised and decided to go for it quite late in the day. I’d eased off a little Monday and Tuesday and travelled over to Peterborough hoping the recent wind would hold off as I wanted to go quite fast.
My PB over 5km on the road is pretty soft, and was set way, way back in 1995. I’ve seldom run 5km and my best road clocking would have been set en route to my 5 mile PB (had chip timing existed then) in the Victory 5 – in December 1998.
I’ve decided for the next couple of months to challenge the shorter distances before turning my attention towards Toronto in October, so a few 5km and 10km races (and possibly even a race or two on the track) fits the bill. This was going to be the first of a few road 5km outings.
When I arrived at Peterborough the wind was picking up and as the race was around a lake and quite open, this wasn’t ideal. I sat in the car feeling a tad cheesed off as it hadn’t been so bad throughout the day, and now with an hour to go until the gun, the trees were bent over.
I warmed up around the course and could see this was potentially pretty quick, and I was feeling pretty lively. I got my strides done and the wind was noticeably lighter and the sky had cleared. I was keen to crack on with it now and was well in the mood.
We set off and the plan was to go hard, so I went to the front and wanted to keep things honest. I had company in the form of 18 year old Chris Wright of Leeds City. Chris went into the lead and I followed him, sticking close. At 2km I drifted into the lead as things felt like they were beginning to waver a little, but could tell we were travelling quickly enough. I lead until a bridge just before 4km.
As this was the second time we crossed the bridge, Chris had seen this as a place to push on and did so, just leading me by a stride or two as we flew down the other side. I dug in and kept him close, but he was gradually easing ahead. I had to concentrate to keep close to the leader, who had gapped me by a couple of seconds.
We entered the final few yards and this is where I would have called upon a kick – if I actually owned one, which I never have done. The gap as we crossed the finish line was two seconds, him 15:20 and me 15:22. I was fairly pleased with the time. I need to race a few 5km races to get a feel for it, but this indicated to me a PB is possible before the summer is out. I’m going to have a go in the Dulwich 5km towards the end of June and see if I can chip another few seconds off before challenging my 10km PB in Manchester on 3 July.
1. Chris Wright 15:20
2. James Lawler 15:22
3. Andrew Jakeman 16:02
Southend Half Marathon
After the Peterborough race I got talking to Paul Martelletti on twitter and e-mail and Paul said he was also doing this race and pending his acceptance in the BMC 5000m at Watford he would decide how to run it. Paul is a 65-low half marathoner and 2:17 marathon man, but said he was happy to offer to help me to a fast time should he get accepted into the BMC race as he was committed to the half marathon anyway. This got me thinking about running fast at Southend and I quickly decided I was going to have a proper crack at my PB, with Paul’s help as it transpired he did get accepted for the 5000m (meaning two races for him in little over 12 hours).
Anybody who knows Paul will be aware that he is a ‘hard as nails’ New Zealander and I had no reason to doubt he would be able to go sub-67 for the half just a few hours after a 5000m on the track.
The week went really well in training, easy efforts no faster than 6:30 pace with the exception of the 5km. The day before the race the forecast was not good - rain and strong wind building throughout the morning. I was gutted as the course was supposedly flat and PB material.
I had convinced myself I was going to run hard from the gun and made a point of telling everybody so that I was committed to race hard, regardless of what the weather threw at me.
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| Southend early on |
The morning of the race I set off with my brother and the winds seemed light, in fact I was getting pretty quite excited at the prospect of ideal conditions, but this changed by the time we assembled at the start. Paul was there fresh from a 14:19 5000m PB set in a race starting at 9.30pm the evening before - it was now 10am. James Connor from Kent AC was also on the start line, which was another bonus as I knew the pace would be decent and I would have company.
We set off and I took the pace with the other two guys, and between us we pushed on, hitting the right splits for sub 67 minutes (5.05, 5.12, 5.03, 5.05). We were moving well with the wind behind us and I was feeling quite good. We hit the first cone turn between 4 and 5 miles and Paul put daylight between us as we swung into the wind (5.11). I was committed to trying to go with him as Connor intimated he wasn't going to follow it. I tried to give chase, passing 5 miles in 25:37.
We were now facing the stiff breeze and our pace dropped on this side of the road, as we passed those behind us (including my brother) coming back the other way. I had to concentrate down here and felt I was keeping Paul within range. We turned again shortly before 7 miles and it was here that things became difficult passing ‘lapped’ runners. Between here and 11 miles (went through 10 in 51:51) we were constantly passing back markers with minimal room on either side, as well as facing the wind whipping off the Thames Estuary.
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| Chasing Paul Martelletti |
I lost sight of Paul and the lead bike at times due to the volume of back markers between us, although it was probably only a 12-15 second gap. The feeling of passing people at pace may have compensated for having to concentrate on the road ahead, and this took my mind off the fatigue as we faced the wind.
At 11 miles we swung off the sea front and into a residential area and I was starting to feel things a bit, and in the last 2 miles my pace slowed and Paul’s lead was extended by a few more yards. I was running strongly but was losing valuable seconds for a sub-68, despite the wind.
I finished 17 seconds behind Paul in 68:14 and was very pleased with the time, despite the blustery last 5km taking 16:23. Certainly getting under my PB for the half is possible on a better day, as long as I run the race hard from the gun, rather than looking to conserve things for later. My best times have always come when I go hard early and throw caution to the wind, not thinking about the later miles. However, I think I need to be in tip-top shape to do this, so the opportunities are rare.
I’m not planning another half marathon now until Bristol in early September - perhaps this will be a good opportunity to nail that PB. For now I’m going to race ‘under-distance’ 5km and 10km.
1. Paul Martelletti – 67:57
2. James Lawler – 68:14
3. James Connor – 69:28
