Brilliant Hillbilly turn-out at last night's Sundowner 10K race!!!!
Allen, Angela, Charlene, Chris, Dy, Josh and Tanja!!!
Well done to all of you, you did the Hillbillies proud!!! Even though this was a flat race, the Hillbillies seemed in their element, flying through the crowds and putting the marker boards behind them in quick succession.
Chris and I spotted Josh and Tanja at pre-race registration, and chatted a few minutes before making our way towards the start. Tanja joined the main crowd at the starting line, while Chris, Josh and I stood a little off to the side where it was slightly less crowded (apparently there were record entries yesterday, with over 2000 entrants!). After the gun went off we lost Tanja in the crowds and didn't see her again during the race.
Chris and Josh were planning a quick run, I tried to keep up with them for as long as possible. They wove through the crowds and quickly pulled ahead: by 1km I'd lost sight of them completely. But I found Allen, and we ran together much of the way. Allen was flying along, and really helped pull me along at a good pace.
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| Route Profile |
About 3.5km in we reached the first water table. It was a lovely cool evening (the first time I've ever run this race that it has not been a real scorcher of a day!) I was extremely thirsty by this point. Running past the first water station, the helper had just given her last water sachet to the woman in front of me, and was still digging for more when I flew past. Next helper was turning around to talk to his buddy as I ran past him, pulling the water out of my reach as I ran past. I was debating turning around and grabbing a water packet from him when I noticed another helper ahead. And as luck would have it, he was just finished digging a handful of sachets out of the supply and handing one to the person ahead of me, so I plucked the next sachet out of his hand as I flew past, yelling a heart-felt 'thank you' at him.
That water was just what I needed. After Tuesday's run and Sunday's long one, I was still a little tired, and flagging fast at this point in the race. A few small sips of water give me a much-needed cool down and energy boost and I managed to keep going at my 5m15 pace. I didn't think I'l be able to keep it up, but for the time being I was okay.
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| Route Map |
By 5km turnaround at the pool, Allen was looking strong and I was wondering when I'd be forced to take a walk-break. I saw Josh flying along about 700m ahead, already past the turn-around and on his way back. Chris wasn't far behind him, maybe 200m at this point. Around the corner over the grass, and Allen and I were now part of the 'back' crowd. Seeing the hundreds of people still heading for the turn-around (some looking strong but some obviously taking strain) gave me the boost I needed to keep moving. Halfway point is behind, I could do this, I could keep up this pace till the end, but it was going to be a lot of hard work. Allen was looking so strong I decided to stick with him.
Soon Allen was surging ahead of me, but I was happy enough to stay behind as long as I kept the gap less than 50m.
Finally, at around 7km mark, I dug some energy out from some unknown reserve and surged ahead to pass Allen. I know Josh and Chris were long gone, probably almost finished by now, but I was on track for a 55 minute 10km - not a PB, but the best 10km time I've run in a long time.
Next challenge: stay ahead (a bit of incentive to keep moving). Allen, I have to say a huge thanks to you for motivating me along the route! If you weren't there to challenge me I probably would've taken it easier and finished a couple of minutes slower.
By 8km I saw Chris just up ahead - his ITB had flared up again and he was forced to take the last few kays slow. He still finished under an hour though, which was brilliant!! Well done!!!
1 mile to go, I was ready to find a quite spot and just sit down. But I can't do that, gotta keep moving!!!
1.2km - I can do this.
1km - slowing down for a slight hill leading towards V&A: push harder, go go go!
700m - hill over, easy on the down, don't want to trip now
300m - flat and nearing the finish
And then finally there's the queue at the finish line: I'm stopping my timer the moment I hit the queue, I don't care what the 'official results say', they're going to be way out, I'm keeping my own time on this one: 53 minutes and 55 seconds: if I can find my 2008 Cape Town 10K results I can find out whether or not this was a PB - but either way its close!
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Dean Street Hillbillies
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