Chester Spring 5 Road Race
Hammered it!
Last night I took part in the Chester Spring 5 road race. I was hoping to finish just inside 35 minutes (meaning 7 min per mile average) but I surprised myself and got round in 31:20 :). This works out at 6:16 minutes average per mile which is way faster than anything I’ve done before. I came 55th out of 296 and was the 3rd unattached finisher (i.e. not a member of a club).
The results are here. There is also a map of the route here.
On the night I started right from the front to try and avoid the stampede of 300 people squeezing down a small country lane. I pushed it very hard at the start and for a few minutes I wasn’t too far behind the leaders. My first mile was 5.47 which is probably the fastest I’ve ever done in my life (!) but unfortunately I couldn’t sustain this like the elites can! Think my second mile was also about 5.50, but during miles three and four I was suffering and slipped to 6.40 ish. On the last mile I dug down and hammered it to overtake a bunch of guys in the last half. The finish after the last straight was very deceptive - you could see it but still had to do a twisty lap of the field to get there! Even managed a sprint finish to nearly ensure a heart attack, but the suffering was all worth it when I saw my watch ;).
All through the race I was panting like a mad rabid dog (think I may have been foaming at the mouth too) ;). Wouldn’t like to think what my heart rate was doing, but needless to say it was flat out for the whole time. I think running up steep hills has helped me get used to this punishment ecstasy…
Very pleased overall. Have to try for sub 30 mins next time ;).
