It’s been a while now since I last raced, in fact it was the Bristol 10km when I set my current pb of 46:10. I have never managed to run sub 1 hour for a Relish Running 10km. They are always hilly, muddy and longer than 10km for a start. Today’s Roman 10km which started and finished at Bath racecourse was no exception. It started off nice and flat around the racecourse but then disappeared out into the fields and down a very steep hill (where I had to stop and re-tie my shoelace) and the only thing I could think was that I’d have to get all of that elevation (120m of it) back again. It was mostly a more gradual climb back up, apart from a horrible hill where everyone walked (not just me) before the out and back section. I’m still recovering from whatever-I-did-at-Body-Pump a couple of weeks ago, so even though it hasn’t felt weird again I didn’t want to risk it on the climbs so walked where I felt it was most prudent. This meant I still had a bit of energy left towards the end of the race and managed to bring it home in under an hour for the first time. It was a well earned couple of jaffa cakes and half a freeze pop (excellent idea) at the finish line. I even managed to find the showers which felt great.

Another medal and race bib for the collection.

UPDATE: I finished 61st out of 145 runners, was 7th lady and 4th in my age category.