Winner!
Well, not at all really, but I did come away from the BMC Mike Sully / Gemma Butler event on the Downs with a £10 voucher for Easy Runner.
I arrived just in time to see the senior men’s race start and then went for a warm up in my new Nike spikes. All my enthusiasm quickly waned as I ran up hill against the wind, following the line of the race route. But then, that’s a familar pre-race feeling, so I ignored it.
Then on to the start line for the mob match. Lots of Bristol & West vests, and Great Western Runners too. Start lines are great for friendly chatter, and I particularly liked the complaint from one person about feeling duped, because they thought it would be a “an old man’s race” and there were too many youngsters and women. Some of the seniors from the previous race had obviously not tried hard enough, because they came to join us in the mob match, only 10 minutes later.
The starter seemed impatient, “come on, don’t you lot want to do this race!” and then, before many of us knew what was happening, we were off. He’d obviously had enough of race starting in the wind and rain.
I swear I heard some of the guys from the previous race chatting as they led us off along the first straight. Cocky, eh?
Anyway, it was what it was. I managed to go slightly off route twice - quite an achievement given how well marked everything was.
Thankfully, it doesn’t take long to run 4k, so it was over without too much agony. I ran alone for pretty much the whole race, and came in 14th, taking about 15:30. I’m happy with that, given I’m just getting back into it after a very long down period. And it was more windy and slippery than last year.
But I did have my new spikes on. It was still slippery, but I dread to think what it would have been like in anything else. They felt good.
Anyway, Tom Russell of Bristol & West won the senior men, and Kate Goodhead of Bristol & West was the second senior woman.
Bristol & West won the mob match and (as has happened before in the Bath Half) because I was one of the trailing members of the team, I got in on the prizes - hence the the ten quid, even though it was really the efforts of the fast ones up front who won it for us.
It was pretty miserable weather, and thanks is due to tall the organisers and helpers.
I think I was about 10 secs slower than last year. Never mind, I reckon I had the best looking shoes, not that I care about that kind of thing.
Races and BMC, Mike Sully Trophy