Ashtead 10k

Jaffa cake not pictured

Today’s 10k race was the first race I’ve run since leaving school in the early 1990s. So, as long as I finished, I was guaranteed a personal best.

As it was I came in at just over 52 minutes (I’d been aiming for under an hour, and hoping for 55 minutes, so I’m definitely pleased with the time).

The race was really enjoyable, though I made the beginner’s mistake of starting too fast and so from 4k on had quite a few people pass me.

Thankfully there was no sign of the hornets (!!) that apparently marred last year’s race.

Part of the course is practically on my doorstep so I’ve been running various sections of it in my training (despite another early beginner’s running mistake). It’s a lovely rural course, with short-ish off-road parts and longer trail sections (which race organisers Trionium describe as ‘undulating’).

Despite not seeing hornets, my training runs have included flocks of Canada geese loitering in the fields that border part of the trail and surprising a deer as I rounded a corner.

Today the weather was close to my ideal for running – not hot and a bit cloudy. Although I had grumbled about the prohibition of iPods, as I always run to music, the atmosphere during the race made up for it.

Overall the race was really well organised, though I hadn’t been expecting to be told to sing the national anthem before starting off. But I was impressed with the Jaffa cakes and jelly babies on offer (along with apples and carrots it should be said) after crossing the finish line.

I’ll definitely be putting in for next year’s race and am already thinking about fitting another local 10k race in earlier in the year (the Epsom 10k is held in June).