First 10k race completed - 45min

Elmarie and I joined up with close on 800 other runners to complete the Valentines 10k road race in Chessington. A clear, yet very cold, start to the day. (I remember scraping ice off the car window before leaving...)

It was our first 10k race and the results actually surprised us both. Even though we felt we were going much slower than during our training runs, we both cleared the finish line much sooner than we thought.

I came in at 124th with a time of 0:45:02 and El at 1:03:37. (which is a faster pace than her 5k runs at Bushy Park!)

I pushed hard at the start, probably a little too hard too soon, and soon found myself putting in a much slower pace as I hit the halfway mark. The water station was a little beyond this 5k mark, which itself was a rather interesting experience trying to grab a mouthful of water between strides. (Note to self: Try taking Hal Higdon's advice and STOP to drink)

For most of the race I ran alone, although right at the end I met up with a runner (Mark B) and we had a brief chat before deciding to push hard through the last stretch which was only about a few hundred meters. (Thanks for the well needed inspiration, Mark!)

Overall the race was very well organised and the marshal's were great. We got given t-shirts, shakes and chocolate bars at the finish to round things off, which was a nice touch.