2nd March 2003

Well, the race pack did warn us about the hills!  After the Stamford 30k, I thought I was ready for any hilly road race.  And certainly up to about 9 miles there was nothing of any real note, but then that real steep one came at 9!...  

The first 5 miles were easy and friendly running with Chris and Bob.  Pacing ourselves at our 8 minute mile pace and having started from the back of the pack, we slowly weaved our way through the field.  We sadly said farewell to Chris at 5 miles as we parted ways for our longer run.

Now with only Bob for company and encouraged by the cheering Striders, supporting kindly enough at the bottom of the hill, we battled up.  Total concentration and hard work got me to the top of the dreaded hill when I realised that Bob wasn't with me anymore.  I looked ahead in case my slow progress was too slow for Bob.  Nope, not there.  Bob was behind casually walking up the hill.  Still it gave me a few moments to get my breath back before tolling onwards.

Also being supported by Katy and the parents-in-law, it was good to see friendly faces around the route.  At 15, I was beginning to feel a little weary knowing full well that the infamously talked about hill at 18 miles was looming closer.  Bob helped keep the 8 minute mile pace going whilst I was going through a tough stage.  Then the hill...

Bob fell back soon after starting up the steep slope whilst I battled onwards and most certainly upwards.  The hill would have been tough if running up it fresh, but we had tired and sore legs after running the previous 18 miles.  This hill was most certainly a killer.  Somehow a reserve of energy together with excessive and silly swinging of arms helped me shuffle up the hill into the final 2 miles home.

Being very tired, even the running down the hill towards the finish seemed like a real effort to push forwards.  Bob now left a little behind, I pushed towards the finish and known rest to finish with a cheer from my family and Striders under the target time of 2 hours 40 minutes as planned.  Hurah!  I am pleased also to say that Bob also managed to beat the time with 25 seconds to spare.

We only hope now that the London Marathon's flat course will feel a breeze compared to the positively hilly Bury 20.

Rich

The Stowmarket Striders results for the 20m are:-

There were 240 finishers.  Click here for the full results.

The Stowmarket Striders results for the 10m are:-

There were 94 finishers.  Click here for the full results.