Merrill & Shelton 10K

Anyone else running this on Sunday? I'm told it's dead flat and a dead cert for a PB. Took 4 minutes off my previous PB at Kimberley last week (only 48 mins 31 secs) - so I've got some way to go I know!!!

Still,I'm looking forward to it - hope to see some of you there.

WP,
I'll definitely be there, am already a little anxious which is jumping the gun a bit. I think Drew is also planning to be there. I'll be in a Notts AC vest, Drew is in Rotherham harriers kit if memory serves and yell at me for misquoting but I believe you said you'd be "the slaphead in the blue Ron Hill gear"? I'll keep an eye open for you.

See you there
mm

WP, I'm definitely planning to be there, however I've been feeling a bit drained recently so if I'm not feeling 100% I won't make it.

MM has a very good memory!

Yep, that's me - what a memory!!! See you there

Looking forward to it.
Best of luck to you both

Had a leisurely morning, rolled out of bed at about 9AM, and didn't set out till ~9:45AM as this one is definitely local for me. Got to Merrill College and was more than a little suprised to see so many cars. Had anticipated a field of about 300, I'm not sure what the final numbers were but I heard the announcer at the start line mention that more than 200 people had registered on the day and to have patience if they ran out of t-shirts, so could well have been 400-500 runners. Clearly, a lot of people were well up for a 10K in Derbyshire this morning. This perhaps wasn't suprising as the weather was perfect (no wind, ~45 F and overcast) and the course is known to be flat and fast.

Got down to the start about 15 minutes before the gun and had a bit of a warm-up jog. Met up with Drew (pleasure to meet you, have a great time in Florida) and we briefly discussed race tactics which were basically, go out as hard as you dare and then try and hang on. In a couple of minutes we were lined up and ready to go, the gun sounded and everyone seemed to take off like a rocket. I could see Drew for about 200 metres and then that was it until the end! I'm wondering if I'm running like a donkey but am pleasantly suprised to hit 1K in 3:35. I have a brief chat with a couple of lady runners who were hoping for mile rather than kilometre markers and let them know we're doing well under 37 minute pace which seems to cause some alarm (to them as well as me!). We then switch off the path and start heading through a quiet residential area (2K, 3:36), I'm feeling like this might be just a bit too ambitious so back off a bit (3K, 3:44) and then try and hold it steady (4K, 3:46) through halfway (5K, 3:39). I get my first concrete indication of how the race is going and see that I'm half done in 18:22. This brings a smile to my face because eventhough it's starting to feel like hard work I'm optimistic about the sub-37. The terrain in the second half of the race is very similar to the first 5K being a combination of quiet streets and paths, I focus on just trying to stay on pace (6K, 3:39) and I focus on a couple of clusters of runners ahead of me and try to reel them in (7K, 3:33). At this point another smile crosses my grimacing face as I'm pretty sure I can hang-on despite the fact that I'm really working now. However, a slight panic then hits at the next marker (8K, 3:49) and I start to dig deep for a big push to the finish. Part way through the next kilometre I draw alongside a runner who is not at all pleased to discover that we've yet to pass 9K (him - "have we passed 9K yet", me - "no", him - "f**k!"), but we do shortly thereafter (9K, 3:39) and then I really put the hammer down as hard as I can dropping the group I've just pulled alongside and making a desperate bid to reel in one more before the finish, he hears me coming though and pulls effortlessly away dropping me like a bag of spanners, no matter the finish line is in sight and I get through the final kilometre (10K, 3:32) to end the madness with a new PB - 36:36.

So overall I was delighted, taking 1 min 40s off my previous PB for 10K from March of this year. Also ran a PB for 5K in the second half (18:13, haven't raced a 5K since 2000) and an estimated PB for 5 miles (29:35).

Drew also had a storming run, no doubt he'll tell all shortly.

Wollaton Parker, sorry to have missed you, perhaps I'll catch you at Worksop 1/2M in 2 weeks, any other forumites planning on this one?

Also a big thankyou and well done to the organisers. The race is very well marshalled and without a doubt a PB course when the weather obliges us like today.

MM

Excellent report. I'm afraid I endured rather than enjoyed this one. Having spent the week being coughed over by my four year old son I started feeling really rough yesterday and woke this morning with aching joints and a throat that felt that it had had a session with the cheese grater!!

Shame because having done 48-31 last week at Kimberley (3.5 mins off my previous PB) I was aiming to take another 3.5 off and hit the 45 min barrier (lured by the promise of a flat course).

I was dead on my pace up to 4K when my legs started to feel like lead and I can honestly say I haven't had to dig that deep before to getround 10K. Running with a cold really isn't much fun is it.

Anyway, given my condition I have to be pretty satisfied with 47-22 (another PB) and I headed back to Nottingham to watch Paula doing the business. I'm told by my step mother that she (Paula that is!!) used to run round the local fields in Oakley (just outside Bedford) - where I originally hail from and we all thought she was a bit mad - just goes to show!!

I'll be taking a few weeks off racing now but plan to run the Half at Leicester on 24/11.

Keep on running.

WP,
sorry to hear that things were a little off for you today. I guess that's the nature of racing. Nevertheless, a PB is a PB and you should be well pleased with that! So CONGRATS for getting out there and doing the business eventhough you didn't feel 100%.

I'll also be doing the Leicester Half (all going well between now and then) so hopefully we'll get to meet up then.

Congratulations to both of you, MM that's a cracking improvement since March, I'm in awe reading your report, but didn't cry like I did when someone else got a PB this pm.
WP, nurse your cold properly now and be proud of your PB.

MM - only just seen this courtesy of your link. Superb run - an absolute stormer. You must be in great shape to put in that sort of finish.
Nice account as well - looks like your pace was v similar to mine for the first 4-5K, but you obviously had a lot more in reserve than I did.
Was the course q flat then? Maybe I should have accepted your invitiation to take part!

WP - you're a loony to be racing when feeling like that. Mind you, I'd probably have done the same. In the circumstances, a brilliant PB.

Drew - where's your account?

Storming run MM and an excellent race report - to take that much off your PB is very very good - to what do you attribute the success?

Laura L & Mike S,
thanks, must admit I was well pleased and almost made the suffering endured on Tuesday nights fartlek club run seem worthwwhile ;-)

Mike, the course is definitely a PB route, I think the total elevation change was probably about 5 metres!! With the weather as it was here yesterday the conditions really were absolutely ideal. It's already in my diary for next year.

MartinH,

thanks, I think the key thing for me this year has been running with a club. So the Tuesday night session I do (typically a 9 mile fartlek run) is with a group in which everybody has someone to chase (I'm usually about midway down the pack). The friendly competition really encourages you to run harder than you otherwise would.

The other thing is that having done quite a lot of long intervals (e.g. 3x2 mile) on the track over the last couple of months, I had a really good idea about the maximum pace I could realistically hope to sustain over the 10K distance.

Unlike MM I had to get up a little bit earlier but still arrived in plenty time. Conditions were ideal for a fast time. The course seemed perfect.

Great to meet up with MM, who, I must say, looks exceptionally fit. Both of us had the same strategy for today – start off fast and hang on. I wasn’t sure what to expect today as I’ve been feeling exceptionally tired for the past week or so and have taken this week very easy.

For me this was a race of two halves and I have included MM’s splits for comparison purposes in brackets. You'll see why later!

Started from the front and passed the 1k mark in 3:18 (3:35). 2k mark in 3:24 (3:36). Sat in with a group of 3 or 4 other runners for the next 2ks which were passed in 3:34 (3:44) & 3:36 (3:46). Between 4k & 5k started feeling a bit lacking in energy and struggled to keep up with the group. Went through the 5k marker in 17:37 (18:22). That’s 6 seconds faster than my 5k PB and 47 secs ahead of MM. Really starting to struggle now, 6k 3:41 (3:39). Any energy is fast vanishing from my legs and it takes a massive effort to maintain contact with my group, which is slowly moving away from me. 7k is passed in 3:37 (3:33). 8k & 9k is where I lose it! The surface is mainly dirt track. Although I’m not losing much ground on my group and am still trying hard to get back on to them the splits are 8k - 3:52 (3:49), 9k – 3:48 (3:39). My normal fast finish has totally vanished as I end up doing the final 1k it in 3:34 (3:32).

As I approached the finish I watched the clock counting down 35:40…41 with about 150m to go. Sub 36 was not going to happen today but my eventual time of 36:10 was still a PB.

2nd 5k passed in 18:23 which was 10 seconds behind MM.

Overall quite pleased with the run. If I hadn’t been feeling so lacking in energy this week I may have been able to maintain my 1st 5k pace for the second half, but who knows, maybe I just started off too fast!

As for MM, what a storming run.

WP, Mike sums it all up!

Impressive running! Great times all round.

MM - That is the sort of race that I always set out to run, but it never quite happens! Well done

Gareth

Drew - nice one & well done on the PB. Sounds like you handled your difficulties better than I did mine.

Well done everyone - PBs all round. Good excuse for a party, I suspect!

Drew,
great report, I had no doubt that you'd gone out like a maniac considering I lost site of you within 200 meters, that is a blistering pace through 5K, your 1K split is at 33-minute flat 10K pace!!!!!! So I think you had an awesome run to tough it out in the second half and nail down a PB. Nice one.

Ironman,
must admit it was one of those (very) rare days where eventhough it hurt like hell it still felt right, if you know what I mean.

Best of luck in Amsterdam, give it hell.

So, two of our fastest forumites neck and neck in the same race. Well done guys. Really enjoyed reading your report too Drew, and congratulations on your PB.
BTW, your first K split was a second slower than Paula Radcliffe's equivalent mile splits yesterday (av 5.14 according to commentator). Not trying to make you feel bad honestly!

Well done everyone.

Now feel alot worse today (the cold has totally taken over) so I'm happy in the knowledge that had the race come a day later I would not have been able to jog let alone PB!!

Planning an easy week to shake off the cold then I'll build up slowly and surely to the Leicester Half on 24/11.

MM - see you there maybe!