Morning All
Its Friday so it must be race day
Super Sports 5 miles
This is run in the grounds of some of Dubai's finest 5 star establishments around the Burj Al Arab ( the one that looks like a sail) , so a 2 lap run along the twisting hotel paths next to the Persian Gulf. Far to many twists and turns for real PB territory but I have only ever raced 5 miles once before and my time of 34-22 is very soft.
0700 stood on the start line in conditions you lot would probably love 20C and pissing down, fork lightening crashing around. A quick check of my age group rivals reveals club mate Ben undefeated in the M50+ for the past two years ( probably helps that he is originally from Somalia and looks remarkably like Mo's older brother, which of course he may actually be) and Craig who isn't actually 50 but will be before the end of the race series in May and is thus classified as M50. The others are insignificant in the greater scheme of things. The hooter sounds and I immediately tuck in behind Craig whilst watching Ben start to disappear into the distance. 1K 3-58, 2K 4-06, sharp U turn at the tennis courts, returning to the start point dodging various hotel golf buggies and tourists out to watch the thunderstorm, 3K 4-07, 4K 4-02 back to the start point and another sharp u turn still on Craigs heels and not too far behind Ben. The course is primarily a brick surface which is getting very slippery in the rain, out on the second lap and my breathing isn't quite where it should be. 5K 4-06, 6K 4-12, Starting to fall back off Craig but caught 1st lady 7K 4-10, 8.1K 4-09 Finished in 32-52 , 12th Overall but only 3rd M50+
So a PB, but that was hardly a suprise, target was somewhere between 32 & 33 mins so towards the wrong end of the scale but then the twists and U turns must be worth another 20 secs so pretty well where i thought I was.
