It is great to be fit again & able to start the year off for the third time in four in broadstone & the Poole runners New Year’s Day quarter marathon.
This is the second year of their new course & the first time I’ve tackled it. The old course started just behind the junction leisure centre. It started with hills before the two laps. This new course starts in the road outside the shops. It is down the big hill, then a small circuit with a bigger than expected climb, & back out to the two laps.
I was up early enough & felt as good as I could New Year’s Day. I didn’t drink much, but I did stay up to see in the new year. The 10:30 start time means you don’t have to be there too early, however to ensure I could find somewhere to park I left the house before nine.
It was good to get there in enough time to not have to rush & to meet up with some fellow goats & catch up with Ray of Run Happy Dorset fame. Also I got a little quiet time in the changing rooms. One reason I like this race is the availability of all the facilities at the junction leisure centre. After collecting my number & getting changed I was feeling good about the race.The new start is outside the shops & we go down hill for half a mile. I deliberately held back as I know I can start to fast & with the down hill I could fly off, only to regret it later. The first hill on the little inner loop was longer & sharper than I expected & I really worried about my lack of preparation. I did consider quitting, I wasn’t sure I had another 5 miles in me. I pushed on and as I climbed gravel hill for the first time I started to feel a little better. Not great, but a little better.
Coming up gravel hill I was lapped by the leader. Once I had got round the top & back towards the start I had ben passed my a good number of runners. This isn’t unusual, however felt early. It didn’t dent my confidence as it has in the past. I knew I wasn’t in great shape and just finishing was my achievement. Going back down hill for the second time I let my legs go a little, but not completely. I picked off a couple of runners I’d battled with up the hill & passed the 4 mile marker in 46 mins. I felt good then, I needed 2 & half miles in under 29 mins to get inside my pre-race target of 75 mins.
However I had to get up gravel hill again & my legs just wouldn’t do it. The lack of any run further than 5km in the two months before the race was very evident. I walked a bit & had to dig deep to keep going. Once I rounded on to dunyeats rd I knew the finish wasn’t far & targeted the small group of runners about 400 meters in front of me. I got closer as the finish approached. I even managed a sprint finish. But couldn’t quite catch any of them.
While I was disappointed in the time & felt shattered. I was please I pushed through & finished. It also confirmed that I really need to do the training. I can’t just turn up & run. There was great support from residents & volunteers all around this course and photographers who are happy to post their pictures for free on Facebook. I’ve of course used them here & with out these passionate people. Runners like me who run on there own wouldn’t ever have ‘race pics’ with out have be pay for the entrance of major races & then pay again for the official photos. I can’t express enough gratitude.
I finished 423 out of 434 finishers & I believe a full start list of 500. In an official time of the 1:16.28. I was in adidas questar boost trainers & more mile socks. My adidas response race shorts & adidweb compression undershorts. My crane short sleeved undershirt & lonely goat rc training t-shirt. Plus of course my oddballs pants.
Thanks as always for reading, & following my journey, the ups the downs & everything in between. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter @benrunnerpants
BenRunnerPants 