Time/Position: 37.51 (16th from 221 [1st V55])
Given the achilles injury and all the travelling, it was very hard to judge form coming into this, as I have barely done any speedwork or racing for two or three months. So I set myself a modest sub-38 target (coincidentally I last ran this long-established race way back in 2007 in 38.04 so that made the sub-38 plan even neater). It isn't the quickest of courses, with a couple of sharp climbs and some steady drags, so I was pleased to feel pretty good, much better than I have of late. Starting from the village, a big lap goes round Pipers Ash to the edge of Chester before looping back round to the main Tarvin Road. I was determined not to go out too quickly, mindful of the way I was hanging on towards the end of the Colshaw Hall 10k in June. But I still pushed a bit too hard on the second lap and then consciously eased off along the Tarvin Road, because I knew a long drag back to the village awaited. This worked, and I felt OK right up to the last 1k where I began to blow a bit, and the sharp climb to the finish was particularly tough as a result. Two went past me in the last few hundred metres, and there were others in my category not far behind. A slow time but nice to win my category on another of the longest established local races (1982 in this case) and a good marker as I try to get some post-injury form back over the next few months.
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