On a sunny spring day, the Sportsworld contingent descended upon Straffan. Arriving relatively close to the race start time (as I usually do!), it was great to see so many club mates there already warmed up and ready to go! It had the feeling of a typical Saturday morning session, but with less wind and rain than recent weeks! In fact, I spent so much time meeting and greeting everyone that I suddenly realised that I had ten minutes to do my warm up! After a few lengths of the car park, my legs felt a lot looser than normal. I took that as a good sign before starting my first 10k since September!
After a slight delay at the start line, the crowd eventually moved back the required ten metres and the race was underway. The course left the grounds of the K Club and went out approximately 2KM on the country roads around Straffan. The route then consisted of two 3KM loops and returned back along the original 2KM to a slightly uphill home straight. To be fair, it is definitely one of the flattest routes around so it is ideal for fast PB running. It may have been a few metres short, but not short enough to take the shine off all the great times run!
Trying to be patient for the first half of the race, I eventually found myself latching on to Mark from about KM2 to KM7. Mark then cruised home to finish with a very impressive time of 34:52. Myles was well positioned throughout the race at around KM 2, 5 and 9 and in full voice, as always, with great encouragement. At KM 9, he was cheering for Wes and I. I didn’t realise that Wes had been sitting on my shoulder for the previous couple of KMs! With his cover blown, it was at this point that he powered past me and finished in a fantastic time of 35:12. Despite my waving to Myles, I don’t think I could’ve gone any faster to hang on-great racing by Wes!
At the front of the race, Karol flew the flag for both The Teachers Team and Sportsworld and finished a very credible 5th place in 32:05, backing up his 3rd place finish in the Tubbercurry 10k last week! Phil continued his recent run of good form to finish 25th in 34:08. Stephen pulled out his usual classy performance and finished 38th with a time of 34:35. Kevin made a great return to racing with a solid performance. Other standout performances came from Ronan (smashing his PB), Conor, David, Neil and Eoin who were rightfully pleased with their showing. Will had a great first 5KM and bravely toughed it out in the latter half.
In the ladies, Lisa went from strength to strength and finished a sensational second place with 38:12 in her first ever 10K! Unbelievable achievement! Not to be outshone by the great men’s results, there were some other fantastic performances by the ladies! I didn’t get a chance to chat to everyone after the race, so all results can be seen below…
https://bhaa.ie/race/k-club-10km-2019/
All club members who participated earned the fantastic spread laid on by the K Club from gourmet hotdogs, to delicious fruit tarts; it was a brilliant ending to another superb day of racing for Sportsworld and many more to follow!
The next big race for me is Rás UCD 5k on the 6th of April with all proceeds going to a great cause, UCD Volunteers Overseas. It would be great to see you all there!
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