David Currie

369I was slightly concerned that I might be pushing my luck doing three runs in a week (on successive days) but my luck held out at the Blackfield RR10 last night! I have mixed feelings about the course: it’s got some good undulations and I always fair well when tree roots come in to play but you are enclosed by hedges for much of the route so don’t get much of a feel for the distance, or the relative position of other runners. In an unusual tactic for me, I started off at an easier pace and picked off runners on the way round. I slipped past the Southampton runner pictured here but unfortunately couldn’t hold off the Romsey competitor I’d just overtaken in a sprint for the line. Still, my finishing position continues to improve with an eighth place this week.

360It was the fifth RR10 last night, taking place at a sunny Itchen Valley Country Park. I had an audience this time as Christine and Emma both came along. My legs felt a bit stiff from Tuesday night’s run in the forest – perhaps not surprising given it has been my only run in the past week. I started fairly fast, partly because I had forgotten just how far you have to go on the third lap of the course. Annoyingly though, my current lack of training seemed to pay dividends as, although I started too slowly, I still managed to move up the results again, finishing in 12th place. This just pushes me in to the top ten for the series so far. It was also great to see IBM Hursley Runners men’s team take an impressive 7th place.

Christine’s Mum has been staying with us since the weekend which has enabled me to get out and about in the evenings – Tuesday night run and pub and then RR10 yesterday. The rain had stopped earlier but I suspect half-term meant numbers were a little down at the race. Although sluggish my legs didn’t feel too tired – probably a result of four days enforced ‘rest’ over the weekend. That and, in the last couple of kms, I knew that the pain was nothing compared to with what Christine had been through! I finished in 15th place – my best so far this year.

Miraculously I’ve now made it to two RR10s in a row. Tonight’s was at Wilverley Plain in the New Forest. Despite arriving in good time I was a little caught out when the race started two minutes early. The first third of the course round the plain was a bit of an all out sprint so it’s perhaps not surprising that I started to fade a little in the undulations of the middle section. This wasn’t helped by having to stop twice to retie each shoelace. (I should always remember: round laces = double knots.) I recovered a bit towards the end, although on the final long straight stretch I was slowing fast and the finish line couldn’t come soon enough. I ended in 22nd position, disappointingly a few places down on last time but I’ll put that down to the laces!

336As I’m now office bound whilst awaiting the baby there was no excuse for not attending this week’s RR10 down at Ashurst in the New Forest. As usual, I was running late and we arrived just 15 minutes before the start. It’s a while since I’ve raced an RR10 so decided to use fellow Southampton runner Eric Parker as my pacer. I did overtake him at one point but it wasn’t long before he came past again. My legs felt terrible – perhaps not surprising having run the past two days and then not at all for the preceding week. I was therefore pretty surprised to just squeeze in to the top 20 in the results as well as being the first IBM Hursley runner back. Christine took the camera out so you can see some more photos over on flickr.

Well, I did make it to the Tuesday night run yesterday and I did remember my GPS but I didn’t remember the route! Consequently, what started out as the standard Telegraph Hill run deteriorated into who knows what. There’s a stand of trees over towards Deadman Hill that I always think we should run to but isn’t actually on any of our runs. Well, last night three of us did get to visit it and get slightly damp in the nearby Black Gutter Bottom trying to get back. We did eventually catch the others again but only just before getting back to Fritham. As a result I’m not attaching the GPX file this week. Still, I’m sure Ian appreciated the extra distance for his last minute London Marathon training!