Saturday 17 October 2015

Langham 10k

Beautiful weather for running

I last ran the Langham 10k back in September 2013 and the stats recorded on my Garmin make interesting comparisons:

The route

2013




2015


Quite a difference in temperature, wind speed, direction and humidity. Although it had been much warmer for the first race, it was still a perfect day for running this year. 

This race is one which attracts those who are aiming for a pb as there are some long straight sections with few hills.

Here we are arriving and the view from over 'Matilda' towards the
centre where we could collect our race numbers and indulge in
a hot drink, and for those with the stomach for eating before running,
cakes and bacon sandwiches (the one time for me when that does't smell inviting at all)











 Well all these stats show little difference in speed but a great difference in elevation and calories - I have no answer!! Same watch and almost identical to official timings so that shows it is recording properly. 




I remember that first race in 2013 being new to "The Commando" (so sorry about that terrible title) runner Facebook Group and they were all much faster runners than me. This meant that I ran the whole thing on my own. So I really enjoyed having Becci to keep me company this year. 

Now for an admission! I always feel a little guilty that Becci keeps me company when she is more than capable of running a much faster race.  I always make sure to urge her to run on from time to time. And this time I think Becci was determined that a certain female runner (we had no idea who she was) would not be leaving us behind after telling us she was using us as pacers and then sprinted off for the finish. Good work Becci! However, finding myself watching my friend disappearing in front of me set off a competitive element in myself I have not fully appreciated. I dug deep for a little "sprint" to the finish because I didn't want to let her down by getting too far behind. 

All in all a good day and an enjoyable one with some lovely running companions (more about this new running group another time) to chew over the race whilst waiting for the rest of our 'crew' to get across the line.






The medal was pretty cute too - very appropriate for this time of year and evocative of Langham and apple growing.

So that was the Langham 10k - one to recommend!