Welsh Castles Relay 2012

Yesterday I took part in the Welsh Castles Relay, my leg was 9.1 miles from Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon, a mainly flat leg with one or two hills and a long flat downhill to finish.

If I’m honest I wasn’t feeling great before the race, in the warm up I just felt tired and out of breath, I was just hoping that I would feel ok during the run. The race started rather quickly but within a few hundred yards I had settled into 6^th or 7^th place. The group in front seemed to be pulling away rather quickly, but I was already on my limit so there was no point in trying to chase them down this early in the race. A guy ran up to me from Serpentine running club and seemed to be going at a good pace so I settled into his pace and ticked along for a few miles. He seemed to be going really well on the flat sections (a bit too fast for me really), but struggled a bit on the up and downhill sections, so we stayed together for quite a while.

We got to about the 4 mile point and I was working very hard to keep up with my new friend, the pace was too quick for me really but I didn’t want him to gap me at this stage. We came to the biggest hill on the course and he started to blow a little bit, I took this as my opportunity to put my head down and try to get away from him. A gap appeared really quickly and I must have put 100m into him on this hill, but now it was my turn to start to blow! I had worked really hard to get away and was paying the price!

It was at this point I saw my parents, they said I was in 6^th place, this spurred me on but I was working really hard now, I still had over 4 miles to go, I think I had gone too hard too soon! I looked back and my new friend was gaining on me with every step and before I knew it he was on my shoulder. I put in a few surges; he’d drop back every time but would be back on my shoulder within a few seconds, I couldn’t shake him off. We got to the 6 mile point and he put a surge on of his own. I couldn’t go with him and the gap opened up very quickly to about 10m. I was back in 7^th place.

During our little battle I thought we were 1^st and 2^nd vet and was desperate to try to get back to him, I wanted to be first vet! We got to the 7 mile point and I knew it was all downhill with a flat section at the end from this point on. With just over 2 miles to go I worked out I had about 13 minutes of running left and it was now or never, if I wanted an opportunity to catch the guy and get first vet I had to give it one final push and risk blowing myself to pieces in the process.

I put my head down and ran as fast as I could for 30 seconds – he didn’t get any closer. I took a breather and did the same again, this time the gap closed. I went again and before I knew it I was two or three metres behind him, again I took a breather and then went past him as fast I could. I was back in 6^th place! A gap quickly opened, but I was absolutely on the limit and gauged roughly I had about 5 minutes of running left to get to the finish line. I can’t lie to you, at this point I was dying, I was just hoping he was in as much pain as me!

I turned a corner and saw the guy in 5^th place! He was rocking and rolling all over the place, the wheels had definitely come off for him! I soon caught him, passed him and was in 5^th place!

I was in agony. Only about 3 minutes to run. Surely I can run for 3 minutes?

I keep looking back and a gap had opened between me and the next guy, but I could see my friend from Serpentine chasing hard and then passing the other guy to go into 6^th place.  

I was in agony. Only about a minute to run. Surely I can run for 1 minute?

I rounded a corner, crossed a road, ran down a lane behind some houses into a small housing estate and was ushered through a tree covered lane by the marshals with a “you’re nearly there!”. I exited the lane onto the business park where I knew the finish would be, but didn’t quite know how far into the business park we’d have to run, it could have been a few metres or a few hundred metres. You’d not believe how relieved I was to see all the supporters and officials literally a few dozen metres on exiting the lane, it was nearly over. I was sure the guy behind me wouldn’t catch me now but as this is was cumulative team race I still had to push to the very end as every second counts.

I crossed the line in 5^th place and, in my mind, 1^st vet.

After catching my breath and taking in some much needed fluids I was told that I wasn’t 1^st vet after all, I was 2^nd vet. To be honest I was a little gutted. I had buried myself against the Serpentine runner as I thought we were fighting it out for 1^st and 2^nd vet, if I’d have known we weren’t 1^st and 2^nd I don’t think I would have actually pushed as hard as I did. Is that wrong of me?

After the race I went to Cardiff Castle to watch the last leg and the presentation. Our last runner managed to get 4^th place which was a fitting end to the two days of racing. Last year the club came 8^th overall (out of 59 clubs) and this year we managed a very creditable 6^thplace, which for a very small club (we have 78 members) is an amazing achievement.

Many thanks to my family and friends for their support on the day, I couldn’t have done it without you guys and a big thanks to San Domenico Road Running Club for the superb organisation across two whole days of racing. Bring on 2013!