Race Report - Corsham St George's 10k

Well the day dawned bright and early for my second 10k.  Unfortunately I probably had one of the worst lead-ups to a race that it is possible to have.  This is my sleeping pattern for the last few nights:

Friday:  Get up 5.40am - bed 3.45am

Saturday:  Get up 8.00am - bed 12.30am

Sunday:  Get up 5.45am

So a grand total of 9.30 hours sleep in a 48 hour period - I know it's only a 10k but still hardly the ideal run up to a race.

Corsham is a very popular run, it had over 700 entrants last year so I was expecting big things from it.  It did not start well.  We got to Corsham okay but absolutely no signs for the race start were to be seen.  We did see several 'caution runners' signs so we knew we must be in the right area but we ended up having to ask a local to interpret the rather hopeless map that I had been sent with my entry confirmation.  Black mark to the organisers me thinks.  However, I must admit that the rest of the race was faultless and a big contrast to Bowood in that it seemed much more slick and professionally organised.  A DJ from BBC Wiltshire radio was there entertaining the crowds, there were organised warm-up routines hosted by a local gym and, the most important thing for me and what attracted me to the race in the first place, chip timing.  Because I'm a middling runner, I don't want to start too near the front as I don't want to get in the other runner's way but this does mean it can take me 30+ seconds to go through the start gate and therefore my race timing will always be out; I appreciate that this might only be less than a minute or so, but it still upsets me that the timing is not accurate.  With chip timing your individual time is recorded as you go through the start and finish regardless of how long it may take you to get to the start.  The other aspect that I thought showed great organisation on the running club's part was the use of pacers.  Because it is such a well attended race, I guess the start could easily turn into a bun fight if people just randomly place themselves on the start line.  By having four pacers (men holding little wooden signs) one at 45 minutes, one at 50 minutes, 55 minutes and 58 minutes this allowed the runners to place themselves at the start according to their expected finish time.  I stood right next to the 55 minute pacer as that was the target I had set myself and although a few people did overtake me right at the start of the race it clearly worked as I was quickly able to get into my stride and not having to overtake loads of people early on.  It was certainly a contrast with Bowood where I ended up starting too near the back and then being held up for a mile or so until I could start to overtake. 

I clearly didn't read the race details properly as I was expecting some of the race to be off-road but it was exclusively a road race.  The course was circular although the first and last ½ km were run on the same route.  I would describe the course as undulating as there were several hills but nothing too hard to tackle.  The good people of Corsham certainly turned out in force to support their race as there were significant crowds lining the route in addition to two brass bands!  This definitely helped to lift the spirits and provide a boost just when needed. 

I found it a challenging race and I can't say I really enjoyed it  but that is probably due to the fact that I was so tired rather than anything against the race itself.  I started off well and was pretty happy when I managed to leave the 55 minute pacer behind at around the 2km mark.  However, he did eventually catch me up again and in fact ended up being around 50 yards or so ahead.  I was not at all happy about this as I really wanted to get sub-55 minutes so I bucked my ideas up and put a bit more effort in and overtook him again on the home straight.  I even managed a sprint finish and overtook several runners on the run-in; if I'm honest I wish I had kicked for home a few hundred metres earlier as I still had the tiniest amount left in the tank at the finish.  But, these are my stats:

Time:  54:57
Position = 436 out of 724
Category Position: 39th out of 115

How happy am I that in my category (Female Vet 35-44 Years) there were only 38 runners better than me; and I was better than 76 other runners!!

All in all it was a pretty good race and all runners got a goody bag and a commemorative Diamond Jubilee mug to celebrate.  I would definitely do the race again next year as I think I could better my time with a bit more of a concerted effort but I am very still very pleased I got in under the 55-minute mark.

I now need to find me a race for the month of May.