http://www.halloween5niterun.co.uk/
A lot of fun, I feel comfortable that I’ve set a low PR with my first ever timed 5K. It was dark, muddy and slippery for a lot of the course, and parts were narrow which made it difficult to pass people when I wanted to.
I started right at the very back, because I had no idea what pace I would be running and a lot of the other runners looked quite serious.
I bottled running it barefoot, and it was probably a wise decision. I
wore water shoes with a fair bit of wear on them, and they provided just enough protection from the stony bits that I didn’t even think about them. Grip, not so much.
However, running at lunch times in the same area stood me in good stead, and when I got my form right I skimmed over the slippy stuff while people in running shoes were picking their way through it.
I could have started a bit quicker, but I should have probably just started a bit further up the pack as I spent a lot of the first kilometre working my way past the slowest runners.
The event had a fun atmosphere, some great costumes were worn. Indeed, some of the times I was unable to pass due to narrowing of the trail, I wasn’t too bothered as I was following one or other attractive lady in “sexy witch” or similar outfit ๐
Speaking of costumes, my wife told me that the first male finisher was wearing only a g-string. Naturally I asked about his footwear but for some reason she was unable to remember.
She also saw 2 guys in VFFs, but no barefooters (hardly surprising, given the course and the darkness and mud).
In the middle of the course, there was a group of drummers in costume which gave a great ambience.
As I started to up the pace in the 4th kilometre, I passed somebody and managed to slip and tumble in the mud. No harm done, and my ninja roll meant I hardly lost any pace ๐
I look forward to my next 5K, when I can see what I can manage. I had very little in the way of training in the last few weeks, and I haven’t go to the point of including speed work yet.
I’m taking the holistic, how my body feels, approach to building up my distance and speed. I have no plans to push distance further than 5K until I feel ready to.
Official result:
http://www.sportsystems.co.uk/ss/results/athlete/?entId=WRIGL-DJCGM-JOEEK
and the results table:
http://www.sportsystems.co.uk/ss/results/Halloween%205k/492
