Spitfire 20

This was my first 20-mile race since Worthing back in 2009.  Did my current good performance work well over this distance?

Weekends are funny because typically my Sunday alarm clock goes off earlier than it would do Monday-Friday. I suppose the benefit of this is that Monday morning is a little bit like a lie-in. Only a little bit though as the dullness of work proceeds it.  So today it was 0600 arising, porridge making and final preparations for departure. I left Zoe in her dream-like slumber (who didn’t even want a cup of tea to be made) and departed to collect Suzy at 0700.  We then zoomed through the empty roads about 50 miles to Dunsfold Aerodrome (here), where about 1/3 of the total race was based. This disused aerodrome is home to an industrial park that deals principally in servicing high performance and racing vehicles. Top Gear records many of its external tests here, and the studio is located in one of the old hangars.

The weather today was overcast, cold, with a fine mist of drizzle. Great!  Not what you wanted to be plodding around in for the next couple of hours.  We arrived about 0830, around one hour before race start.  This gave us enough time to check out what was on offer, catch up with running club pals, and queue, and re-queue for the toilets.  Soon enough 0930 approached and without much pronouncement the race commenced.

You can see an interactive map of the course (here).  It was a 2×10 mile route. As it was the first time for me running the race the first lap was going to be determining where the difficult uphill bits were and to remember them whilst fresh because I’d have to tackle them again the second time round.  The first 2-3 miles were on the track of the aerodrome itself. We then left this, ascended a hill and took in the scenery of the Surrey countryside. Outside the aerodrome we were on country roads sharing it with traffic, although at this time on a Sunday morning there weren’t too many cars. There were quite a few water stations manned by enthusiastic youngsters (even in the horrid rain).  The course after 7 miles came to the village of Dunsfold, with two significant hills at the 7-mile and 8-mile mark.  At just before ten miles we re-entered the Aerodrome and it was time for those doing the ‘Tempest 10′ to peel off and complete their race.  On one hand it was good to have ten-milers on the course at the same time as they acted as good pace-makers, although on the down-side they did clog the course.  The pack thinned for those sorry souls continuing on for the second lap.

I noted that I’d crossed the 10 mile mark at 1:17, which is probably close to my fastest time for the distance. I was running strong, had taken one gel just before the start and a second about 7-8 miles into the lap. I was carrying another two and wasn’t feeling tired. Looking at the mile splits I see that my pace in the first ten miles was 7:43, with my slowest mile (8, with the hill) at 7:53. Miles 10-15 my pace slowed to 8:22 – this was in part I suspect to a stitch that I was trying to run out – again, using deeper breathing (which I’m not sure really helped, but there you go).  At the 12-mile mark whilst still inside the Aerodrome as I’d taken my third gel and dropped the gel packet on the floor. I momentarily had wondered whether I should keep hold of it before dropping, but the second I dropped it I heard a voice from about 10 metres behind, female, South African, saying ‘ah! littering’ – as if she was some kind of appointed official for rubbish-collection.  Now I’m not disputing that dropping litter especially on a race is wrong – however I can’t help but noticing that with the exception of the water stations (placed approx 3-4 miles apart) there were no ‘bins’ on the runway!  I replied ‘I’ll pick it up the next time I’m round’ to which she said ‘yeah right’ and to which I said something along the lines of ‘why don’t you just fuck off you self-righteous bitch’ and then slightly increased my pace. What I’d forgotten is that approx 1/2 a mile ahead was a point at which the race pivots around a 180 degree point and the head of the race can for about 50 metres see who is behind them.  So I was ready for this great revelation of the patron saint of green-values. Alas there were a number of candidates so I generally scowled at all of them.  Just for the record, all of them overtook me because of the stitch that I had.  When it came to the forth sports gel I did indeed drop it on the floor, littering the countryside. Yes, I hadn’t learned a thing.

Well I was enjoying the race, with average pace on miles 16-20 getting better at 8:15, with mile 18 (the big hill again) slowest at 8:40 and the final two miles falling to 8:27 and 7:51 respectfully. I entered the Aerodrome for the second glorious time and crossed the finish line at 2 hours 39 minutes – a whopping 18 minutes faster than Worthing 2009!

Definitely a cause for celebration.  What does this mean for my predicted marathon time in 4 weeks time?  My Barcelona 2009 time of 3:45 is surely something on which I can improve… discuss!