ANSW Novice 10km

3.15pm, 10 km, Scarborough Park, Ramsgate

My first race as an ANSW registered runner for sydney striders. Funny how running, like an opiate, sucks you in for increasing doses of a hit, and the commitment builds.

In short I had a cracker of a run, a 10 km PB of 37.27, over a minute faster than the last PB 38.31 set 3 weeks ago at striders Domain. A little bit scary how I can pick up that amount of time in such a short time. Today I was expecting around 38.30 or even a low 38.00, but I thought a 37.xx was a long time away or Mission Impossible III.

The course was two 3km loops around a lake and two 2km laps around sports fields. Each loop felt longer than 3km and 2km. I took off at the start behind Vat and sat behind him and spied Mohammed just ahead. So I was comfortable that I was at the right pace and not loafing early. It took me a long time to catch up with Vat; I hate passing good runners like a show pony so I only catch people if I'm comfortable I can stick with them. I then followed Mohammed for a while and caught him at the top of the lake on the second 3km loop. I was on the knife edge calculating whether I'd blow up or hang on with the pace. I reeled in a handful of others over the next couple of kms which is usually a good sign, but I was still worried about blowing up. I appreciated the cheers from the supporters including Sean who said 'dig it in' after 6km. Guess what I'm going to say to Sean next time I see him race. It was great to see Horrie and Belinda out there supporting.

The surface was loose and uneven around the 2km loop, not my favourite part of the course, but I had a couple of others to chase in a quality field, and when I got to the finish I almost fell over the line.