Great Midland Fun Run 2017
June 4th 2017
8.5 mile mixed terrain race
The Great Midlands Fun Run is an 8.5 mile (very odd distance!) which starts and ends in Sutton Coldfield. The route is largely tarmac and takes in Sutton Park, which is where I run fairly often - I did this event last year and really enjoyed it, hence being back for another go!
Learning my lesson from last year, I decided to start reasonably close to the front. By the time I had wriggled my way through I was perhaps 15 or so rows back from the start. This turned out to be a much better position than last year, and when the race started at 11:10 (they let the wheelchairs go off first) I was held up very little.
The first two miles flew by (possibly a little too quickly when I looked at my watch), and rounding the corner up to Jamboree I decided to take it fairly steady as my HR was creeping up. I still felt pretty good, but was running with my other half so we kept the pace steady right up and down from jamboree, and then around to the base of Cardiac Hill.
Cardiac hill was certainly shorter and less painful than I remembered, and before long I was out of Four Oaks Gate (thinking wistfully of home being less than a mile downhill from there) and turning right back towards Sutton. Here I was reined in a bit from going flat out by my other half, so I held a steady pace for the last two miles, sprinting on the line to come in just under our 8:00/mile pace target.
Overall I'm pleased with this race - I probably could have gone faster had I gone it alone, but who knows, I actually may have "gone" too early and blown up in the later stages. Conditions today were brilliant (15 degrees, tailwind up the hills) which helped me immensely over last year's heat, and I was chuffed to beat last year's time by over 6 minutes. Already looking forward to the next!
A shout out to the friends I went to the run with, all of whom posted excellent PBs (Dave coming around in an incredible 52 minutes!! and Jenny under 75 minutes, with Andrew and Indi getting First Dog) - great work by all! Also Magda, Mark and Peter all running the course for the first time and posting great times.
Times
Total time: 01:06:30 (6 minutes better than last year!)
8.5 mile mixed terrain race
The Great Midlands Fun Run is an 8.5 mile (very odd distance!) which starts and ends in Sutton Coldfield. The route is largely tarmac and takes in Sutton Park, which is where I run fairly often - I did this event last year and really enjoyed it, hence being back for another go!
Learning my lesson from last year, I decided to start reasonably close to the front. By the time I had wriggled my way through I was perhaps 15 or so rows back from the start. This turned out to be a much better position than last year, and when the race started at 11:10 (they let the wheelchairs go off first) I was held up very little.
The first two miles flew by (possibly a little too quickly when I looked at my watch), and rounding the corner up to Jamboree I decided to take it fairly steady as my HR was creeping up. I still felt pretty good, but was running with my other half so we kept the pace steady right up and down from jamboree, and then around to the base of Cardiac Hill.
Cardiac hill was certainly shorter and less painful than I remembered, and before long I was out of Four Oaks Gate (thinking wistfully of home being less than a mile downhill from there) and turning right back towards Sutton. Here I was reined in a bit from going flat out by my other half, so I held a steady pace for the last two miles, sprinting on the line to come in just under our 8:00/mile pace target.
Overall I'm pleased with this race - I probably could have gone faster had I gone it alone, but who knows, I actually may have "gone" too early and blown up in the later stages. Conditions today were brilliant (15 degrees, tailwind up the hills) which helped me immensely over last year's heat, and I was chuffed to beat last year's time by over 6 minutes. Already looking forward to the next!
A shout out to the friends I went to the run with, all of whom posted excellent PBs (Dave coming around in an incredible 52 minutes!! and Jenny under 75 minutes, with Andrew and Indi getting First Dog) - great work by all! Also Magda, Mark and Peter all running the course for the first time and posting great times.
Times
Total time: 01:06:30 (6 minutes better than last year!)
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