I won the IC Marrow Fun Run! It was an 8km run in Hyde Park (route map) in aid of the Anthony Nolan bone marrow trust. I guess around 400 runners turned up.
I had my normal pre-race breakfast of 3 weetabix (with lots of sugar) and plenty of water. The race started at about 11:15 and this time I was on time… It made a real difference starting at the front for a change! However, I soon discovered that starting at the front had a significant disadvantage… nobody to follow!
I felt good and quickly settled into a steady 16km/hr pace which I managed to keep up for the duration of the 8km race. After about 3km I was out in front on my own and I had no idea where I was going next (stupidly I hadn’t studied the route map beforehand). At every turn I had to search to make sure I wasn’t missing a white arrow telling me to turn off. There were a few stewards every now and again but instead of pointing me in the right direction they would just look at me blankly… I later realised that this was because my number had fallen off! Next time I’ll definitely stick it on better!
I managed to follow the chalk arrows for over 7km without a hitch… and then disaster struck! I reached a junction with 11 different turn-offs and no arrow! I stopped and looked confused. I decided to wait for person behind me to catch up… hopefully they would have studied the map! I probably lost about 15 seconds before I was on my way again and luckily we chose the correct turn. I picked up the pace a bit and cruised to the finish line.
My final time was around 30 minutes dead. And the prize for winning: an iPod shuffle! Now that’s going to be nice to listen to on all of those long boring training runs to come!
Yesterday I did a good run around the perimeter of Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James’ Park. I didn’t push myself too hard but still got a pretty decent time of around 40 minutes for 10km. My blisters from the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon were playing up a bit… when I got home I had to pop them again 
Hey,
Well done on winning the race, I was there too, only 3 mins behind you!
Like you and Matt B (the 8K organisor) I’m doing the London Marathon this year, and setting myself a goal of 3hrs 30.
I’m doing the silverstone half next weekend, and then reading a couple of weeks later. Its been a while since i’ve done a half, so will be good to see how my training is going for the distance.
Well done agaian, and good luck on the big day, and keep up with the hard training!
Mike
6 minute pace 5 miler? That’s awesome. You posted on my blog the other day about my 1:29 half marathon, like yours. So just wondering if you were really all out there, was it a PR, ’cause no way can I do a 30 minute 5M right now, did a 6:19 pace 5M recently, a long way from 6:00 though. Good running.
Wow! Congrats on winning! That’s awesome (I am jealous!)
I am running an 8K the first weekend of April and looking forward to it….no way I’ll win it but I do have a competitive starting bin since I did well last year. I am just looking to cut my time more now that I might know what I’m doing.
Congrats again!