Race Report: Darlington Pit Stop 10k (2010)
Race date: 7.7.2010
Official Finishing Time: 40:53
Official Position: 26/140
The race wasn’t exactly in Darlington, in fact it was six miles from Darlington, and I had to get a taxi from the station to get there. However I got a lift back to the station from a nice couple in Quakers RC gear, so it wasn’t too bad all in all. I saw a few familiar faces as well, the NE running circles are not that huge! It was organised by Darlington Harriers.
My aim was to get as close to 40min for 10k as possible in this fast & flat road race at the Croft Circuit, and boy did I get close! According to my Garmin, I did 10k in 40min flat. Unfortunately the circuit was a bit longer than that, a good 200m longer. The start was way too fast, but not just for me: many people finishing around 45-50min started off at a similar pace. Around the 7k point I realized that sub 40min was on and that gave me a bit of a boost, although my pace did start to drop. I passed a guy that I had been following a long time just before the 9k mark. However, when I noticed that the course would be longer than 10k, it killed my motivation for the sprinting finish — otherwise I would’ve surely been sub 40min.
The conditions were lovely apart from quite a bit of wind. There was a tough bit to the headwind in the only slight ascent of the course and we had to do it three times… I started to have some trouble with my left calf around the 5k point, but managed to finish the race without big problems. I was limping after the race though.
The race course itself was very nice for running, but it was a bit monotonous and frustrating to do three laps. Anyway, I’m happy with the result, even if it would’ve been great to get a sub 40min. But I know that I can do it now. My next 10k race will be the Middlesbrough 10k on 5 September — I should be a little faster by then!
Splits:
1 3:42
2 4:06
3 3:58
4 3:56
5 4:08 (5k in 19:50)
6 4:00
7 4:00
8 4:04
9 4:11
10 3:55 (10k in 40:00)
11 0:48 (0.22k)
Total: 10.22k in 40:52
Avg pace: 3:59min/k
Avg HR: 177 bpm
Max HR: 182 bpm
I don’t know why the Garmin reports the finish time at 40:52, as when you sum up the splits, they come to 40:48. I guess it’s probably due to rounding the fractions. Garmin data here.
The official results are finally in, they are here (Excel sheet).
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