Cranleigh 10k Race Report. 2013

Better late than never i guess but the 7th July saw my 3rd attempt at the Cranleigh 10k. I love this race a lot! I've said it all before but what's not to love about a small local village race where the route is flat, the marshalls are friendly and it is generally good weather. unfortunately, due to the very, very good weather, (which i am in no way complaining about) all PB attempts were cancelled. And also extremely unlikely even if it had attempted it!

A warm day meant picnic, so along with Mrs HMC, we packed the monsters into the car nice and early so they could eat some food and burn off some energy in the vast field and playground near the finish while I did a little run.

The route is approx 5/6km slightly shaded and 4/5km open sunshine. It's those 4/5 km that hurt a lot. But I'm not complaining ok. Just to make that clear. I'm not complaining. A slow 10k was eventually finished just under 54 minutes caused but my completely erratic pace (no idea what was going on there) and the heat but a lovely run none the less. I do love this race and will return next year hoping for just a couple of degrees cooler!

For now, I need to concentrate on next weekend's Dunwich Dynamo where myself and eatingtrees attempt to cycle 180km through the night. This year in a change from previous years though, we will be attempting to both stay on our bikes for the entire duration. Wish us luck...

Cranleigh 10k Race Report - Payback time

Last year, I ended my Cranleigh 10k race report with the following words 'I can't wait until next year. I'll be back. This course owes me 17 seconds!' Today was payback day. I remembered this course from last year and knew it was flat so although I haven't done a tremendous amount of miles in the last month I did feel that going under 50mins for the second time in 2 races was a possibility. Could I go under 49:35 for a new PB though... that I wasn't as confident about.

I got Mrs HMC and The Boy up nice and early and headed off through the countryside to the little village of Cranleigh. There we met up with my mate Paul (eatingtrees was due to join us too but as he's completely broken, he had to pull out) and we made our way to the start area with a spring in our step.

You are organised into predicted finish time and then led to the start which is on a pretty narrow disused railway line so a little stony, a little muddy but plenty of shade from the sun. Surprisingly, people seemed to have got into the correct time pens because as we started, there wasn't as much overtaking as you usually get. People just seemed to settle quite quickly into their own races. First KM split was 4:38. WAY too fast. After that, I seemed to settle down and aimed to be under the particular 5 min mark (i.e. 5,10,15,20 etc) at every marker.

There were loads of marshals, loads of signs and 2 very much appreciated water stations. I love this race. The marshals are so encouraging and the runners so appreciative of them. You always here a lot of 'Thank you's'. I did feel a bit for the guy that got the job marshaling through the farm and next to the cow shed though. I picked the short straw. The one small hill appears around 6.5km and lasts for about 30 metres so it's pretty easy and then gone although Paul did mention that you can see it coming from quite a way out which means it affects you more mentally than the actual physical effort of getting up it.

8km passed and I had just under 11 minutes to come under 50 mins. No problem. At 9k, I realised my error. I had slacked off and recorded my slowest KM for the course so far, A 5:30ish!!! Time to dig and push on. I did and ran one of my fastest KM for the last one crossing the line in 49:03. A new PB by 32 seconds so absolutely delighted but annoyingly, knowing that I was only 4 seconds from going under 49mins, is hard to take.

I got a bottle of wine as I passed through the finish area (although I have no idea why, only some people were getting them) but very much appreciated and then turned to See Paul come into the finishing straight setting himself a new PB of 50:40.

Once again, thanks to all the marshals and race organisers. It was fantastic again. I guess there is only one thing to say, I can't wait until next year. I'll be back. This course owes me 4 seconds!

Cranleigh 10k Race Report - Possible DNF?

Nearly double the distance of any of my Juneathon runs on an unknown course in an unknown village and a Saturday night spent doing stretches as my legs seem to have tightened up completely after 3 days of no running or cycling! Things weren't looking good were they.

I had high hopes for this race though. It gets tremendous reviews for pretty much everything and to be honest, I was impressed with the whole thing. Great marshalling, lovely course (with plenty of tree cover), 2 drink stops (yep count 'em 2, not the standard 1 you usually get) and plenty of parking and toilets.

So my race, it didn't start well with something giving me tremendous stomach cramps from about 9.45am onwards. Really painful and came about every 10 minutes. I nearly pulled out but decided to wait until the start and see how I felt. The cramps came back pretty much every 10 minutes. I went for a little jog across the field to see what that did and certainly didn't make it worse so I continued to hang around. At 2 minutes to 11am, they asked everyone to assemble in the predicted time pens so currently going through yet another pain, I hung around right at the back debating what to do. I wanted to do this race that much that in the end, I went to the start and set off hoping that it would be OK and if not, a marshall would be able to help.

Early pace was my recent 5km pace which I knew was NOT going to be kept up the whole way but the first 4km are along a dismantled railway track which is flat, tree lined and relatively cool. It was a good start. The 2 guys I'd decided to use as pacers started moving off after around 3km and I dropped back and ran on my own for a couple of km.

At around 5km with a bit of open ground and the sunshine beating down, I caught a guy and slowly passed him. He was very heavy footed so at times, all I could hear was his footsteps. However, we then proceeded to stay very close to each other for the rest of the race and neither of us getting more than 10/15m in front of the other. Perfect. I had my paceman until the end of the race. There were slight inclines plus no shade between 7 and 8.5km and I noticed that my pace had dropped so I had to mentally tell myself to push harder. In the end, this section cost me.

I came in at 51:54. 17 seconds off a PB and knowing exactly where I'd lost the time. I also can in about a yard behind my nominated paceman and as I crossed the line I thanked him for giving me the pace and therefore helping me. He turned round, and said with a sly grin, 'No problem but thank the girl up there' as he pointed ahead 'I just aimed for her'. I finished 82nd out of 196 runners and I can't wait until next year. I'll be back. This course owes me 17 seconds!

Juneathon. Day 30. Completion

And with another early morning run, my Juneathon is over. 3 days rest is going to happen now before I find out whether running lots of 5k's is good training for a 10k race or not.

I tried to push it today to break my Juneathon PB but in the end, I couldn't get near that angry day I had.

I've completed 201.65 km on the bike in 8 days and 110.72km running on the other 22 days. The pace for the runs I'm pleased with at 5:06 m/km (or 8:14 m/m)




June 1st: RUN 5.95km (31:48)
June 2nd: RUN 4.46km (22:31)
June 3rd: BIKE 11.31km (??:??)
June 4th: RUN 5.14km (26:05)
June 5th: BIKE 8.61km (??:??)
June 6th: RUN 5.14km (26:15)
June 7th: RUN 5.14km (25:02)
June 8th: RUN 5.14km (28:33)
June 9th: BIKE 21.65km (approx 53 mins)
June 10th: RUN 2.83km (15:16)
June 11th: RUN 5.14km (25:48)
June 12th: BIKE 24:85km (approx 1:10) 
June 13th: RUN 5.14km (25:56)
June 14th: RUN 5.14km (26:00)
June 15th: RUN 5.14km (25:33) 
June 16th: BIKE 18.58km (45 mins ish)
June 17th: RUN 5.14km (26:23) 
June 18th: RUN 5.14km (26:01) 
June 19th: RUN 5.14km (25:23)
June 20th: BIKE 87.44km (a long, long time) 
June 21st: RUN 5.14km (26:50) 
June 22nd: RUN 5.14km (26:28)
June 23rd: RUN 5.14km (25:59) 
June 24th: RUN 5.14km (26:00) 
June 25th: RUN 5.14km (26:58) 
June 26th: BIKE 16.87km (a while including a Homebase stop) 
June 27th: RUN 5.14km (25:55) 
June 28th: BIKE 12.31km (not too long) 
June 29th: RUN 5.14km (25:49)
June 30th: RUN 5.14km (25:37)

Wheathampstead 10k Race Report - The effects on the human body, of running a 10k without a single run in the previous 49 days

Well you'll be pleased (I hope) to know that I survived. I wasn't quick and it certainly wasn't pretty but I managed to run the Wheathampstead 10k, on an undulating course, in 27 degrees, without a run in the last 49 days and without stopping in 59:32! I had pitched myself at 1:05:00 so I was delighted to scrape in under an hour.

In an absolute refusal to get a burnt head (it happens a lot), I looked more like I was dealing with the heat of the Marathon des Sables than in Herts in May. A buff going down the back of my neck with a cap over the top, sunglasses and a healthy amount of suncream on my arms and face. It was a bit scary.

But can I still walk. Well yes. Slower than normal and with a slight grimace but yes. The legs are as stiff as they used to be when I first started running and I can feel the tension across my shoulders oh yeah and I have the coolest blister along my left foot but that's about it. No knee pain, no calf pain. THAT is great news.

It's not an easy route an involves a lot of inclines, uneven ground and 2 sets of steps but it has a great feel to the event with the family 2k that's run before and with the bouncy castles and the like.

My race was all about completion so when myself and eatingtrees took ourselves to the start, we headed towards the 55-60 marker. Once we started eatingtrees headed off through some of the runners and just as I was about to follow, I felt that I was going to struggle if I did that so I just settle back and started running. It was quite surreal with no one to talk to AND no mp3 player. All I could hear was my own extremely heavy breathing but however hot and slow the race was, I kept thinking back to eatingtrees comments about last year and the constant downpour of rain. It must have been a bog in places so we were lucky in that way I guess.

I have to say that I don't really remember much of the run after that. It was just about finishing and judging by my spilt time, I ran at pretty much the same pace all the way round in a kind of daze. First 5k: 29:45. Second 5k: 29:47. As I said, not in anyway quick but at least I didn't have to stop!

My happiness of my achievement was so much, I've signed myself up for the Cranleigh 10k at the beginning of July. Let's hope Juneathon doesn't destroy me in the meantime.