Photos courtesy of Adrian Royle Photography.
With a 2 week holiday coming up in the middle of July to break up the summer, the 5000m at the British Milers Club (BMC) meeting in Manchester formed my target race for this first half. Having run 15:14 after an earlier race that day and 15:09 on another day with heavy training in my legs at previous Mens League meetings, I felt this race was my chance to go under 15 minutes on the track for the first time since Bedford last August. I pulled back training in the week leading up and got a good night's sleep. I then simply hoped for a hassle free drive on race day. Thankfully it worked out that way, getting to Manchester without a hitch. I called in to a garage to fill up with diesel and asked directions to Sport City just to make sure. The track is located next to the Etihad Stadium which was used for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and is now home to Manchester City FC. Out the garage, turn left, end of the road, turn right. Easy....or it would have been if I'd been going to Old Trafford because that's where these directions lead me! A minor blip.
The track was the warm up area during the Commonwealth Games. The whole complex had a huge buzz about it with thousands of concert goers waiting to see Muse later that night. After getting a bite to eat in Asda then a bit of general milling about, my Mum, Dad and brother left me to go to declarations and gather my thoughts. My race, the C race, was quite early in a packed programme, at 6pm, which was a relief since I'd be driving home afterwards and being in either the A or B races after 9pm would have meant a very late departure. Next time I enter one of these, I'll do an overnight.
Club vests were acceptable but I felt I'd worked hard to earn my BMC member's vest so pulled it on for my debut race as a member. It had lay in the polythene since the day I got it, the same day as the Battle of Inverkip (see my 2012 West District Cross Country write up). I recognised VP City of Glasgow's Sean Fontana, who now works down south, but everyone else in the race were unknown quantities, as was I no doubt to them. I had my target pace in mind and knew I'd get the result I wanted if I managed it. Position would take care of itself.
Lining up in a large field of 18, I slowly worked my way up to 3rd behind the pacemaker and a guy in a green vest. Strangely, a first lap of 72 seconds felt very comfortable. This is exactly 15 minute pace so actually slightly slower than I wanted. I trusted the pacemaker to do his job though and soon enough, the pace did quicken to 70-71 seconds per lap. I knew I would have to work to sustain this later but, in the meantime, just tried to get a few laps behind me without feeling too strained.
Above: tucking in behind the pacemaker (blue vest) and early leader (336).
By 2km, the pace at the front was around 14:40 pace. Once the pacemaker stepped aside, the green vest in front seemed to almost literally die a death. In a 75m-100m stretch, I gained on him stride for stride and overtook into the lead. I was now out in front working on my own. I passed 3km in 8:49, still on for under 15 minutes. All the work was being done on my own though. I front ran, ticking off the laps, doing my utmost to keep my shape. The 4th kilometre was a lonely one and my pace suffered. No-one caught me though and I rallied in the final kilometre.
Above: being pursued in the later stages.
Sometimes, you have a sense someone is about to pass you. Sure enough, on the bell for the last lap, Sean Fontana came alongside and overtook. I tried to keep in contact but I'd blown a gasket. Still, a 69 second final lap brought me 2nd place and a time of 14:50.24, just outside my track best of 14:48.03. A good performance having taken on the pace alone. Sean clocked a deserved personal best of 14:46.88. He was one of 11 athletes out of the 18 finishers to run personal bests. Another 5, including me, ran season bests. However, I really need a sprint finish. My kilometre splits were 2:56, 2:53, 3:00, 3:02 and 2:59. I can see where the 2 seconds I was outside my best disappeared to.
On my warm down, I snaked through the last remaining folk still to take their places for the concert, turned down more than one bootlegger's offer of a ticket, gave Sarah Benson some encouragement in her 3000m steeplechase, chatted to Craig Ruddy and Elspeth Curran, both running 5000m races later on, then, after a hot dog and chips, set off home. I got in at midnight but my mind was too active to sleep so I had a wee beer with my parents and brother before finally going to bed in the small hours more than happy with how things had gone. As recently as 2011, these races weren't on my radar. Being in them feels fantastic. I know the improvement will stop sometime. I'll simply keep enjoying the rollercoaster while it lasts.
5000m race results
No comments:
Post a Comment