Darent Valley 10k 2018

The Darent Valley 10k is my yearly ritual race. I've run it every year since I moved to Dartford and 2018 marked my fifth time running it. The build-up to this race was not ideal for me - I spent six weeks during March and April not feeling too well and did absolutely no running whatsoever. So expectations were not high, and that was fine with me - All I wanted to do was enjoy the event and maintain my streak.

pre-race

I usually cycle over to the race, but this year I didn't feel I had the strength in me to cycle there, run, and then cycle back home. So I reluctantly took the car. Parking is pretty tight in and around Eynsford and Farningham, but there is a field which a local farmer allows runners to park in just a few hundred metres from the race HQ at Anthony Roper School.

If you've read my previous blogs you'll already have a pretty good idea of the set up of this race, and nothing has changed. So after using the school hall to get changed and store my bag I headed out to get warmed up and use the toilets (I avoided the queue this year). The race has a nice, early start time and at about 8.20am I got into position around the school gate. The weather conditions were pretty perfect, no wind to speak of and the spring air was slightly cool, but not cold.

eynsford viaduct

It's probably a good time to mention that I was taking part in this race as an unattached runner having not renewed my running club membership. So the race got underway and I found myself alongside my friend Richey. Together we kept a decent but sensible pace throughout the opening couple of kilometres. After that we went our separate ways and I maintained the decent pace - it wasn't an aggressive 10k pace, but ever-so-slightly under it. Probably more like a tempo run kind of effort, which felt good and I was able to enjoy the scenery without too much grimacing.

The views throughout the race are very scenic - there's the view over the Darent Valley itself, followed by the 9 arch viaduct, and, by the half-way point - Lullingstone Castle. Around this point my effort level had started to creep into what felt like 10k effort, and I climbed the slightly uneven path through the Hart-Dyke family farmland before joining the section along the Lullingstone parkrun course. This is the only part of the race that is off-road, and it covers about a kilometre. Still it has been dry and firm every year I have taken part and my road shoes have always been fine.

400m from the end and i was smiling [photo: eden summers]

Heading onto the country lane outside Lullingstone Country Park, the biggest climb of the route is imminent, and at roughly 7km into the run you hit the bottom of it. The initial section leading up to the main road is the steepest, but the incline continues after turning onto the A225, and it's a good 800m in total before the course starts to flatten out...

... and when it does, you are left with the final 2km which is almost entirely downhill. I always find it very satisfying to know that my fastest kilometre splits are saved right until the end. Looking at the breakdown of kilometre splits, as always my 8th kilometre was the slowest of the race because that contains the long stretch of continuous incline, and the final 2 kilometres were indeed equal fastest.

st botolph's church

This year's medal featured a picture of the St Botolph's Church which is within the grounds of Lullingstone Castle. This particular image was used in memory of Guy Hart Dyke who passed away in February 2018 aged 90. He had been the owner of Lullingstone Castle since inheriting it in 1969, and had kindly allowed the race to cross part of his land for many years. The castle and grounds have now passed to his son Tom Hart Dyke, and I hope the good relationship continues for many year to come.

My race stats:

Time (chip): 45.19
Position (gun): 65 / 529
Official Results Page: Chiptiming UK DV10K 2018
GPS data: Darent Valley 10k 2018
Relive course flyby video: Darent Valley 10k 2018 flyby

Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Foots Cray Meadows

Foots Cray Meadows is located on the banks of the river cray and consists of parkland and woodland. Formerly part of the grounds of Footscray Place, a country house built in 1754, it is now a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. The house itself was demolished in 1950 following a fire a year earlier.

This was the venue for the third race of the Kent Cross Country League of the 2017-18 season. This was the first race of the season so far where I was sure that cross-country spikes would be the best option and as the race progressed I was pleased to have chosen them.

The course here is generally quite flat, but there are a few long, gentle inclines to deal with. The 10k course is made up of three laps with the first being shorter than laps two and three. Underfoot was fairly soft as we had experienced a bit of rain in the lead up to the race.

As for my race, I started quite far back in the pack, but due to the quality of the field at this series of races, I didn't really lose any time in the early congestion. The race panned out pretty well and I found that I was generally picking my way through the field.

Although the paths are generally a decent width, there are some sections where the course goes down to a single track path with long grass meadows on either side, so overtaking can be difficult at times. Strangely, the most difficult part of the course was quite a flat section which seemed to have a head wind and longer, clumpy grass to negotiate.

I finished in a higher position than I had in the first two races so it was nice to feel like I was improving as the season progressed.

Links:

• Official Results
• My GPS Data
• Relive Course Flyby Video

Dartford Bridge 10k and 2k 2017

I first ran the Dartford Bridge 10k or The Bridge 10k as it's also known, back in 2013. That race went pretty well. I paced it perfectly and I came away with a new 10k personal best. This time around, an all-time 10k personal best was not on the cards but I was hoping that I'd be able to shave some time off of 2013's time. For the record it's almost perfectly flat with just a few minor changes in elevation to deal with.

In the years since the last time I ran this race, the course had been changed at least once, but 2017's race was run on the same route that the 2013 race used. The course starts with a short tail, followed by two full laps of the perimeter road. At the end of the second lap, a smaller loop is run using a the first quarter of the main lap. The course breaks off and leads back towards the main race HQ area where the finish is found.

2017's race really was a great example of terrible pacing. The only consolation I have is that all the runners I spoke to post-race made exactly the same mistake. To sum it up, my current flat 5k times are somewhere around 20.30 which works out at a pace of about 4.06 per kilometre, and I ran the first kilometre of the 10k in 3.52 (according to my Garmin). That pretty much set the scene for a pretty horrendous race experience.

My pace gradually slowed throughout the first half of the race. I ran that first 5k in somewhere between 20.20 and 20.30. The second half of the race was, as expected, quite a painful experience and my pace eventually dropped as low as 4.20 per kilometre. The second 5k came in at around 21.30 rounding off my finish time at exactly 42 minutes. An appalling set of splits considering this was my 29th 10k race and I should know better.

The good news is that I was able to increase my pace over the last kilometre and finished on a high. After putting in such a hard effort run, it took me ages to recover and my chest was still aching about 10 minutes later. Plenty of water and food followed and eventually all was well.

Now the big question is 'did I beat my time from the 2013 race?' - the answer is 'yes' and 'no'. Let me explain. My official chip time from 2013 was 21.50 and my official chip time from 2017 was 22.00, so on the surface of it, it looks like I was slower. However, the 2013 race started about 60 metres further along the road and that means the 2017 course was longer.

Looking at my GPS data, it took me approximately 14 seconds to reach 2013's start point, so if I was to adjust the course in order to make a direct comparison, my 2017 time would have been approximately 21.46 which is indeed faster!

The event also has a 2k kids run and after not being interested for the first part of the morning, my daughter suddenly wanted to enter the kids race when she saw my medal. So after paying the £3 entry fee she got in place on the start line for her 1 lap 2 kilometre run/race. She ran this race once before, in 2014, and back then put in a time of 18-and-a-bit-minutes.

The nature of the course meant that I wasn't comfortable leaving her to negotiate the course alone. It's not that I doubt her ability to follow directions, it's that the route crosses roads and not all of the crossing points had marshals on hand - something that I think should probably be rectified in future years, especially now that more of the land has been built on.

So I filtered into the back of the start funnel hoping to run the entire way with her, but of course she had sped off into the distance with one of her new-found buddies. By the time I caught up with her she was maintaining a decent pace of around 6 minutes per kilometre and looking in good shape. We made our way around the course and were soon heading towards the finish line.

It was at this point that she decided that I was running too close to her and was cramping her style, and she told me to run further away from her. Naturally I dropped back a bit and let her put in her final push for the line. With a finishing time of 11.52 according to my Garmin - If the course was a perfect 2k this means that she smashed her previous best 2km time by over 2 minutes. There were no official results for the kids' race.

It's a lovely event with a great atmosphere and we had a brilliant morning. My result and all the various links are below:

Results:

• Time (chip): 42:00
• Time (gun): 42:02
• 19th overall out of 195 finishers (199 started but there were 4 DNFs)
• 16th male out of 123 finishers
• 7th out of 45 finishers in my age group (M40)

Links:

• Official 10k Results Page
• My 10k GPS data on Strava
• My Dartford Bridge 10k Relive course fly-by Video

• My 2k GPS data on Strava
• My Dartford Bridge 2k Kids' Run Relive course fly-by video

Links to previous event blogs:

• Dartford Bridge 10k 2013
• Dartford Bridge 2k kids' run 2014

Dartford 10k 2017

The Dartford 10k is a brand new (as of 2017) August Bank Holiday event hosted by Dartford Road Runners (DRR). It effectively replaces the Les Witton Dartford 10 Miler which had its last running in 2014 (blog here). DRR are also responsible for the Joydens Wood 5k race series and the Run Dartford race series (my venue guide), so they are well rehearsed and have a reputation for putting on great races.

I entered the Dartford 10k a couple of weeks beforehand via the Runbritain online race booking system and paid the affiliated runner price of £15. Non-affiliated runners had an advance entry fee of £17 while on-the-day entries were £20. I received a detailed race instructions email a few days later.

The race headquarters was at the Dartford Football Club stadium, Princes Park, and the venue also has car parking available. Being a football ground, it has toilets as well as post-race refreshments facilities. The race HQ was set up on the first floor inside the main stadium overlooking the football pitch. Race numbers and timing chips were collected on-the-day from the desks at HQ. There was also a bag drop available in this room and once changed I left mine with some of the lovely DRR volunteers.

dartford 10k 2017 [photos: 7t]

Despite already being warmed up from my 2.5km jog from home to the HQ, I took advantage of the caged astroturf football pitch adjacent to the stadium that had been put aside for runners to warm up for the race where I did a few strides etc. The race start time was 9am and the participants had all gathered at the start area a few minutes beforehand. After a quick briefing, the race was underway...

Heading along the football stadium access road the course initially headed downhill where runners had to take care passing over the cobbled speed bumps. A quick left-right took the runners onto Powder Mill Lane where the downhill gets even steeper (-11% at one point). Upon crossing the River Darent, the course hits one of its lowest points and things level out.

My pace was already quite fast due to the downhill start and I worked my way through the Questor Industrial Estate in the bright sunshine - it was a beautiful August Bank Holiday Monday, but the heat did make things feel tougher out there. I passed the 1km mark in 3.49. I knew this was a pace I couldn't sustain so I did my best to relax and ease into a more settled pace.

number collection / course map [photos:7t]

Exiting the industrial estate for a 3km stretch along Hawley Road, the course passed under the A2 and M25 motorways and felt totally flat. However after reviewing my GPS data, there was a very gentle incline all the way along this road right up until 4.4 kilometres where the route turned off of the main road and into South Darenth. The gentle incline naturally lead to a gradual slowing of my pace, which was needed.

The route through South Darenth took the runners along a residential street before heading into a single file, slightly uneven, alley way path for 500m which runs alongside a lake. Turning back onto the residential streets the course crossed the River Darent again and this roughly marked the halfway point. I crossed 5km in pretty much 21 minutes flat, which is only about 15 seconds slower than my current 5k pace. I had set myself up for a pretty painful second 5k and there were times where I wondered why I continue to put myself through this self-inflicted misery.

If there's anything that can be said, it is that this is definitely a race of two halves. The first five kilometres allowed for a quick pace, but the second half contained the some challenging undulations and hills. Straight after crossing the river, the inclines started - first of all along Holmesdale Road which turned into Holmesdale Hill after rounding a bend. Then the course turned onto Roman Villa Road and the first water station was found, I was suffering quite a bit at this point and eased off the gas to take a sip of water before dumping the remainder of the water over my head (I've since decided that pouring water on myself didn't really help - all it did was make my vest heavy and uncomfortable).

the opening downhill [photo: becca] / about 9k [photo: ann langdon]

I'm quite familiar with Roman Villa Road as I quite often cycle along it. It is 1.5km in length and is the most scenic part of the course with lovely views across the Darenth Valley to the left. The heat was still an issue but by staying to the right hand side of the road it was possible to keep in the shade. I kept plugging away along the road's undulations until reaching the end where the incline is a little steeper (roughly 10% gradient).

A bit of relief was found at the end of the road as the course swept down the steep decline of Darenth Hill towards Green Street Green which is flat for a short while and due to the high temperatures an additional water station had been set up just as the course passes back under the A2. The flat section gave a little time to mull over the final climb of the day, which was Trolling Down Hill. To be fair the incline here is not very steep (around 3%) but it heads uphill for almost a kilometre. As you'd expect, it felt harder being towards the end of the race, plus there was nowhere to hide from the blazing sunshine.

The course eventually crossed over the M25 and reached the end of the road where the runners headed back into the football stadium complex via the Princes Road gate and the finish was found shortly afterwards. After composing myself and letting the urge to vomit pass, I picked up my participation medal and headed over to the water table to start re-hydrating.

trolling down hill [photo: ann langdon] / race medal [photo:7t]

The design of the medal was pretty cool - the top border matched the hill profile of the course, which I thought was a great idea. There was no shortage of familiar faces to be found and I spent a fair bit of time chatting to fellow runners and exchanging thoughts about the tough second half of the course. The results were available instantly via two laptops which had been set up for runners to use - I had a quick glance but didn't linger for too long. I collected my belongings from the first floor of the stadium and headed back out onto the road for my short cool-down jog back home.

The official results and a great album of official photographs were published a bit later in the day. I also generated the course fly-by with the Relive app and you can view it on youtube, here - Relive: Dartford 10k 2017.

Results:
Position: 27th / 276 (26th male)
Age Group (Vet 40M): 7th / 59
Official chip time: 43:44
Official gun time: 43:46

Race Links:
Official Results: Race Timing Solutions - Dartford 10k 2017
My GPS data: Strava - Dartford 10k 2017
Course fly-by: Relive - Dartford 10k 2017

Related blog race links:
Les Witton 10 Miler 2014
Canterbury Half Marathon 2014 (local August Bank Holiday race)
Sevenoaks 7 2016 (local August Bank Holiday race)

Darent Valley 10k 2017

Every year since moving to Dartford, on a certain weekend during the spring, I get up nice and early, jump on the bike and cycle over to the Anthony Roper School in Eynsford for the Darent Valley 10k race. 2017 was the fourth year of doing this, but it very nearly didn't happen.

You see, I had been having some trouble with my ankle and held back on entering the race. However, on the morning of the 2017 race, I woke up and decided to cycle over to the race to support my friends that were running - at this point I definitely was not going to run.

[photo: 7t]

I arrived, headed into the school hall and found the rest of my Dartford Harriers running club members. I mentioned the troublesome ankle, chatted for a bit, and before I knew it I was queueing at the late entries desk with £15 in my hand to pay the on-the-day affiliated entry fee.

What I didn't mention was that before leaving home, I had packed my running kit in my backpack, so I had everything I needed to take part. This years race had a higher turnout than the previous years I had run and this was mostly down to the event moving to an early May date rather than mid-April which inevitably didn't fit into any London Marathon runners' diaries.

With my training being almost non-existent in the six weeks leading up to the event, I didn't have high hopes for my performance. My main goal was to get around the course without aggravating the ankle, however I had hopes that this year wouldn't be a new personal worst.

[photo: angela fathers]

I started the race from well back in the pack and took the first kilometre nice and easy. After that, I felt like increasing the pace so I started to push a little harder, but not quite at what I'd call race pace. Over the next few kilometres I filtered through the field and generally felt pretty good.

I had a slight pain in the left knee which was related to an unfortunate incident where I bashed it on my mum's kitchen table a few days earlier, however I pushed through it and it was generally fine. I took it easy through the off road section that passes along part of the Lullingstone parkrun course and it was soon time for the hardest part of the race, which is the long incline which leads up to the A225 road.

Once the incline ends, the final, slightly downhill 2.5km closing section begins. It's a little hairy as this section is run an a main road with not really any pavement available to run on. Still the last two kilometres are great fun and very fast. Before I knew it, I had arrived back at the Anthony Roper School and headed into the finish funnel.

[photo: 7t]

The medals at this race have quite a nostalgic feel to them and they always feature a scene from the local area. This year's medal featured a windmill and it looks great with my medals from 2014, 2015, and 2016. As for my overall performance, despite the lack of training and various niggles, I ran the race faster than I did the previous year, so that was pretty good!

Race stats:

Finishing time (chip): 43.58
Finishing position (by gun): 118 / 653

Full results: Darent Valley 10k 2017

GPS data: Strava - Darent Valley 10k 2017

The Ridge Off Roader 10k 2017

I spent some time in early 2017 looking for a tough, scenic race to run on my 40th birthday, and after narrowing the choices down to a couple of options, I decided to go with the Ridge Off Roader which is run in the Chiltern Hills area of natural beauty. 2017 was the fifth running of the flagship 10k event, but this time it had been expanded to also include a half-marathon option, and while I was really tempted by the longer distance, I decided that on balance, the 10k would be the better option for me.

However, I didn't fully commit to the 10k race and I kept my options open until the day the online entries closed, and with just 9 spaces remaining, I finally put my entry in via the Run Britain website. As an affiliated runner I paid the £14 entry fee, while unaffiliated runners paid £16. I got a confirmation email and then an email containing the race day instructions, which was really handy.

ridge off roader 10k 2017 [photos: 7t]

On the day of the race, I headed over to Bledlow Ridge in Buckinghamshire which is where the race is based. The forecast was not great and during the drive, the rain came down pretty heavy. We arrived and parked in the race car park which was in a grass field adjacent to The Boot pub, it was a little muddy in the field so I changed straight into my trail shoes before leaving the car. Little did I knew at this stage that the car was going to get stuck in the mud after the race - thankfully some of the marshals helped to get us out by giving us a big push - thank you.

A five minute walk back down the main road eventually brought us out at Church Lane and Bledlow Ridge School, which was used as the race HQ. I went into the main hall to collect my race number, and while doing so, I was handed a birthday present from the organisers (I was one of three people running the race on their birthday). It was a really nice gesture which I really wasn't expecting, so thank you very much!

ridge off roader 10k 2017 [photos: 7t]

So with my number collected I watched as the half-marathon runners set off at 10am on their delightfully brutal 21km mission up, down and across the hilly Chilterns. This left me enough time to get changed into my shorts, have a little warm up and use the toilets, which were just outside the school in a car park - there were four portaloos and they seemed to handle the numbers pretty well.

In addition to the half-marathon and the 10k race, there were two children's races, a 1k and a 2k. I asked my daughter if she wanted to take part, but she's not really into regular running at the moment as she prefers obstacle course races. So after cheering the 2k runners on, and the time being 11.02am (that was the official race start time) the 10k race was finally ready to begin. We took up our places in Church Lane and once the children were all safely well clear of the route, we were sent on our way.

start line [photo: dani]

The opening section took place on the roads around Bledlow Ridge which were briefly closed to traffic to allow us to pass through safely and it was just over 1km before the first off-road section was reached. I took it nice and easy along here because I didn't want to burn myself out before the hard bits of the race! The first bit of mud was a bit of a shock to the system after settling into a nice steady pace on the road, but it didn't take long to find my cross-country legs and I flew down the steep off-road decline along the edge of a field.

After about 500 metres, we were sent back out onto a road (Slough Lane) where we had the first climb. While it was challenging, I had no idea at this stage that this would be the easiest hill of the race! Anyway, I passed a few runners on my way up and finally at the 2.3km point we reached the proper off-road part of the course where the first hill continued but diagonally across a field.

and we're off... [photos: dani]

About a mile of downhill and flat running followed but underfoot conditions did not make this easy - sometimes there was a little worn dirt path and others it was patchy clumps of grass to run on. Either way, a keen eye was required to avoid turning an ankle. The problem I was having at this is stage was that the light rain had covered my glasses and I could see clearly. Even so, I pushed on and overtook another runner. I should mention here that there were plenty of fab marshals out on the course, all very cheery despite the rainy conditions.

At the 4.3km point of the race, the next incline started. Underfoot was muddy and slippery and this added to the challenge. It was tough but runnable for a while and I hit the halfway point in just over 22 minutes. Almost immediately after passing the 5km marker, the hill got steeper. I continued to run at first, but soon realised that I had to slow down and walk for about 200 metres. While I was walking, I took the opportunity to clean my glasses with my Dartford Harriers singlet - not the ideal material for cleaning the lenses, but it was better than nothing.

at around 8km into the race [photo: barry cornelius (unedited)]

I had been closing in on another runner up until this point, and although he also walked, he managed to get running again before me and I never did manage to reel him back him in. The top of this ridge gave fantastic views in both directions and it momentarily took my mind off the pain I could feel in my legs and lungs. I was back running at this point and continued to pick up speed as I ran down a very steep and technical section through some woodland.

At 6.4km there was a water station. Also the 10k route and the half-marathon route met up here and there were a few more runners to interact with for the rest of the race - some were running at a pretty decent pace considering they had run eleven kilometres more than me at this point. I ran alongside a half marathon runner (identifiable by the black bib number, the 10k runners had blue numbers on our bibs) as we flew along a wooded section which was ever so slightly downhill - this was a lot of fun, but there were tree roots and branches to look out for. At 8km, there was a photographer from oxonraces.com on the course and he got a couple of nice shots of me - the photos were offered to runners for free and this was one of the factors that swung me towards entering this particular race - so I'd like to add a special thank you Barry Cornelius for them.

at around 8km [photo: barry cornelius (unedited)]

By the time I had reached the 8.3km point, I was feeling good, but there was another climb looming. After a very short section on tarmac we turned into another muddy field and continued to plod away uphill - I was assured by a marshall that this was the last hill. There was a brief respite from the climbing as I hurtled downhill for about 100 metres or so, but then it was back to climbing. For the second time in this race I was reduced to walking, as was everyone else around me.

At the top I managed to get my legs moving again, but it was very muddy and I splattered my way through it as I passed along next to the field where we had parked the car. Then, with one kilometre left to go, the course changed back to tarmac and I could finally pick up the pace again. Hurtling down the pavement towards the school, I remember the road from my walk earlier that morning. A marshal soon directed me back into Church Lane and another pointed into the school grounds where there was one final but of slightly muddy grass to run on which looped round to the finish line!

finish [photos: dani]

I grabbed a quick hug from my daughter who I had seen running towards the finish line from across the school field and the race director wished me a happy birthday over the loudspeaker system, which was another really nice gesture and really made my day. I had a medal and a couple of goody bags handed to me and I found my wife who had managed to take a few photos of me as I came hurtling back into the finish area - again, thank you!

The results were published later that day and I had finished in 9th position out of 185 runners in the 10k event, which I was very happy with. To give you an idea of how tough the course was, in my current shape, I would expect to run a flat, road 10k in under 41 minutes. My official time for this race was 46.59 so that's roughly six minutes extra, which was fine because this race was never about going for a quick time. It was all about running in a beautiful location and having a lot of fun (in the mud) in the process, both of which I can confirm were successful!

medal and present from the organisers - thank you! [photos: dani / 7t]

Stats:

Full official results: Ridge Off-Roader 10k 2017

GPS data: Ridge Off-Roader 10k 2017 (Strava)

Position: 9th / 185

Time: 46.59

Run>Dartford: Thames River Path 10k

The Thames River Path 10k was the last of the 2016 Run>Dartford series and took place on Friday 19 August. Before I continue with the post about this race here are the links to the blogs for the first four races of the series..

Race 1: Dartford Heath 5k
Race 2: Central Park 4 Mile
Race 3: Darenth Country Park 2 Mile Relay
Race 4: Joydens Wood 5k

I came into this race in 5th place overall on the consolidated points table. This has mostly been possible through consistency rather than any exceptional age-grading scores. The runners in the top five positions at the end of the series were to be awarded trophies, so I had plenty of motivation to put in as good a performance as possible.

eager to get going...

Those familiar with the local area should know the ASDA at Greenhithe. Next to the main vehicle entrance to the store car park is an entrance to the Thames River Path. The meeting point for the race was found about 100 metres or so along the path. Weather conditions were nice and cool but it was also fairly windy.

The route for this race was an out-and-back with a small loop at the far end. Underfoot was a mixture of stony trail paths, grass, tarmac, and gravelly paths. The path is fairly narrow, especially at the beginning so in order to avoid congestion, runners had been organised into three waves and were dispatched at 10 second intervals - times were then adjusted after the race to reflect each runner's actual finish time.

path near the start/finish

I was put into wave A and sent off with the first bunch of runners. By the the time I reached the 1 kilometre point I had the feeling that I may have gone out a little too hard, and the 3.49 minutes that had elapsed on my Garmin confirmed this. Naturally my pace slowed after this point.

On the 'out' section of the race, the blinding setting sun made it tricky to see many details so I was extra careful as the route passed through some cycling restriction barriers during the section that passed underneath the 'Queen Elizabeth II Bridge' which is better known as Dartford Bridge.

looking back towards the start area

The view out onto the Thames was nice and despite the chaos of the Friday evening traffic 137 metres above our heads, it was a peaceful place to run. The route continued along the path past the imposing 215 metre high chimney (fourth tallest in the UK) of the now decommissioned Littlebrook D Power Station.

The last of the industrial areas to pass was the Longreach Sewage Treatment Works, after this the race entered the Dartford Marshes area. It's a small area of marshland that once streched all the way along the Thames Estuary and is comprised of arable fields, grazing areas, scrubland and drainage ditches.

sunset

The Dartford Creek Tidal Flood Barrier was soon in sight and this marked the end of the 'out' section. A small loop was run at this point which turned the runners around and sent them back from whence they came; back along the marshes, past the sewage treatment works and the power station. Under the bridge and then to the finish right at the end of the path.

My course GPS data can be viewed on Strava via the following link: Thames River Path 10k

The Run>Dartford series 2016 participation medal was awarded to all runners who completed a minimum of four out of the five races in the series. It's a great looking medal which features the Dartford Warbler. As usual, there were plenty of other runners milling around analysing their performances.

For me, I started too fast, slowed down gradually throughout the first half, then I had a stitch for about a mile from 5.5km until just after the 7km point. I managed to hold a steady pace throughout the stitch and then gradually speed up through the last three kilometres so it wasn't too bad. However my finish time was about a minute slower that I had expected to run.

medal and trophy

After some quick calculations the race director was ready to announce the overall prize winners of the series. I had ended up in fourth position overall which I would never expected at the start of the series so as some might say, I was 'well chuffed'! I received a nice trophy which I've managed to find a lovely spot for at home.

The full results were put online on the Run>Dartford website soon after and I had finished in 5th position on the evening. But of course this series uses age grading to determine finish positions and points for the table, so I was 12th overall on the evening with an age grading of 65.81%. That translated into 65.81 points to add to my tally in the consolidated points table and I finished on 320.11 points in total. It's been a fantastic series and I'm looking forward to 2017 already!

Full Results:
Time: 42.51
Position by age grade: 12/45 (5th position by time)
Full results: Thames River Path 2016
Points in the consolidated points table: 320.11 (fourth position)

Mount Ephraim 10k 2016

Mount Ephraim is the name of an Edwardian country house in Hernhill, near Faversham in North East Kent. It is well-known for its terraced gardens and is open to the public between March and September. It is also a popular venue for weddings and functions.

There are two 10k races that place here each year that are hosted by Nice-Work and support local charity Porchlight, who provide much needed support to vulnerable people throughout the county. In February there is an off-road race and in August there is a road race. This blog is about the road race.

mount ephraim

Although I had been mulling over entering this race for quite some time, it was only the day before the race that I actually entered. The Nice Work webpage linked to a few sign-up options but I opted to use the Run Britain online entry page - mostly because they do not charge a booking fee. As I am a club runner I paid the £14 affiliated entry fee while unaffiliated runners would have paid the full £17 for the pleasure of taking part.

On the day, car parking was available for all entrants in the large on-site car park within the grounds of Mount Ephraim. I collected my race number and timing chip from race HQ which was set up on the lawn outside the main house. Toilets were available for use just adjacent to the main house.

nice work race hq

The ladies and disabled toilets looked fairly nice but the gents could do with a bit of a make-over. They were also out of toilet paper which probably caught a few people out. It reminded me how important it is to come prepared for the worst at races [always bring your own toilet paper, full change of clothes, safety pins etc...].

At 10.30am there was a short briefing and the race got underway - there was a special note made that the race is run on roads that remain open to traffic and that headphones are not allowed (UK Athletics are keener than ever for this rule to be enforced than in previous years).

all ready to go

It starts on grass and features a small lap of a cricket field before changing to tarmac and heading downhill past the car park and out onto the local country lanes for one large clockwise loop. The route undulates as it passes through the villages of Hernhill, Fostall, and Dargate. There are plenty fields, animals and orchards to be seen throughout the course.

The course was marshalled at all the important points such as junctions but I was careful to keep an eye out for vehicles just to be doubly sure to avoid any conflict. The drivers I encountered were careful enough around the runners and I didn't hear of any issues.

off we go

Just after Dargate, at around 5.5km into the race, the route has its longest stretch of continuous climbing and this lasts until around the 8km point where the highest point of the course is reached. From here the red-bricked facade of Mount Ephraim's country house can clearly be seen in the distance and it looked way further than 2km away!

The final 2 kilometres of the race are largely downhill, however there is a sting in the tail as the course turns back into the grounds of Mount Ephraim. Underfoot becomes a little gravelly and there is a fairly sharp uphill to negotiate before reaching the finish line just outside the house. You can view my full GPS trace of the course on Strava, here; Mount Ephraim 10k 2016.

out into the countryside

As far my race goes, I had turned up with the idea to run this just under race pace as I have(had) the final race of the Run Dartford series just a few days later and didn't want to exhaust my legs before that. However, in the end I felt that I should really give the course an honest effort. So I did and I was very pleased with my pacing which I reckon I got spot on (ie I don't think I could have got around any faster). I'd say that runners should expect this course to add about 2 minutes to their current fast, flat 10k time.

The full results were posted online a few hours later and I had run a chip time of 43:20 (gun time 43:24). I finished in 22nd position out of 279 runners and was the 19th male finisher. At present there are a couple of issues with my result. Firstly, my name is spelt wrong.... twice. I am recorded as 'Stephen Stockwel' instead of 'Steven Stockwell' which seems a little sloppy to me.

great support at the finish line

Secondly, I registered as an attached athlete through my running club Dartford Harriers but my club's name has not been assigned to me. Again it all feels a little sloppy and I imagine that my details have been manually inputted as I registered fairly close to the advance entry deadline.

I have sent a message to Nice Work to ask about correcting my name in the results and at time of writing am currently awaiting for a response or for it to be actioned. I hadn't spotted the part about the running club when I sent the message so I haven't made a request for that to be added at time of writing. [I'll update this post when/if I have some more info].

exploring the gardens

Overall I had a fantastic morning. The weather conditions were perfect, the atmosphere was friendly and relaxed, and the course was great. I spent some time exploring the gardens with my daughter after the run and it was lovely. I'd love to run the winter off-road version of this race [seems to be held in February], so I'm just hoping that it doesn't clash with any of the cross-country fixtures.

Vitality London 10,000 2016

I usually avoid these mass participation races, but I thought it'd be nice to extend the brilliant Westminster Mile event [read the blog here] into a full bank holiday weekend's worth of running. So I entered the race online a few weeks beforehand at a cost of £26, which is more than I'd usually pay for a 10k race but these Central London races are always a bit more expensive.

A race pack was sent out to me a couple of weeks before the event and it contained my race number, Ipico timing chip, a race day programme and the required items incase I wanted to leave my belongings in the baggage area during the race.

vitality london 10,000 [photos: 7t]

The race is always held on the late May bank holiday Monday, which is the day after the Westminster Mile where I ran a time of 5.41 [blog]. We had stayed overnight in London not far from the start-finish of the race, so the morning was fairly straightforward for me with just a short warm-up jog over to St. James's Park required.

The race start time was set at 10am, I arrived at about 9.40 and headed straight into the blue start pen. For the record there were four start pens on the day with the blue being the first to be sent out onto the road. It was pretty crowded towards the front of the pen and I managed to squeeze into a point that was more towards the front than the back.

pre-race [photos: 7t]

At 10am sharp the race was started and I slowly shunted further forward until I reached the start line. According to my RunPix personal race stats page, it took 24 seconds to get there which wasn't too bad considering the amount of people running this race. However, I immediately remembered why I avoid these events. It was pretty congested all the way down the Mall and it wasn't until after the 1km point that I found that I had fallen into my intended pace.

The streets stayed more congested than I would have liked through until around 2.5km. At this point I found that the runners had spaced out enough for me to start to feel comfortable and really started to enjoy running through the streets of London. For the record, the course is basically completely flat - there are a couple of gradient changes over in the City of London but they are nothing more than that.

race underway [photos: mum]

The course worked its way from the Mall, past Trafalgar Square, along the Strand and into the City of London. It headed around the northern side of St. Paul's Cathedral and then looped back around where the 5km marker was found. I passed the halfway point in 20.37 (according to my stopwatch / 20.35 by the official halfway mats) and felt pretty good so I continued at the same effort level as I headed back towards Westminster.

The course largely followed the same roads as the outbound route for a while and it was nice to see the thousands of runners heading out towards the city as I made my way back. When the route reached Trafalgar Square, the runners headed down Whitehall and this is where knew I'd have some supporters awaiting me.

I was pretty excited about this and looking out for them proved to be a nice distraction as I tried to fight of a mild stitch that I felt forming. Then just as I reached the end of Whitehall (technically Parliament Street) I saw my nephew and mum waiting for me.

post-run [photos: neil reissland / 7t / mum]

My mum was trying to take a photo of me at this point but had a bit of a senior moment with her phone and didn't manage to take a photo - on the plus side I did get a hi-five from my nephew which set me up nicely for the last kilometre.

The last kilometre is the place where there is no longer any point in reserving any energy, so heading along Birdcage Walk was a bit of a blur. I pushed as hard as possible and although I didn't really acknowledge any of the crowds, it was really packed and the cheering really helped me to continue to push.

With 400 metres left to go I checked my stopwatch and saw that I was on for a sub-41 time, which was great news and provided another additional boost for me. So for the second time in as many days, I turned onto Spur Road and crossed the finish line in the view of Buckingham Palace. I had indeed come in under 41 minutes and done so with a negative split race.

2016 medal (back and front) [photos: 7t]

I went through the process of having my timing chip removed before moving onto the goody bag collection points. The bag contained a mixture of nuts, crispy things, drinks, and sun cream. But most importantly it contained the race medal and the Adidas race t-shirt. I like a nice close fit so I opted for the extra-small t-shirt and it fits really well.

After bumping into a few familiar faces, I located my mum and nephew and we made our way back over to the flat we were staying in. If I had been a little better organised I could have taken advantage of a free massage in one of the tents, but the queue was long and I was starting to shiver as I hadn't taken warmer clothes over to the park with me.

As an event, I thought it was really well organised. There is plenty of space in Green Park and the organisers used it well. The only real downside is the same old thing that you get in these big events, and that is the congestion during the first kilometre or two. To be fair, there were plenty of pre-race announcements telling runners to avoid over-seeding themselves when lining up, but apparently nobody really took any notice.

kilometre splits (under pace) and GPS trace of the course [photo: 7t]

I reviewed my GPS data on Strava after the race and I reckon I managed my pace really well. The congestion at the start cost me around 20 seconds, but I knew this would happen and was actually pleased that I hadn't lost even more time. So instead of becoming stressed about it, I stayed patient and was able to put in a cracking last few kilometres (the 10th was my fastest of the entire race), which I'm very pleased with.

Official Time (chip): 40.48

5km splits: 20.37 / 20.11 by my stopwatch (or 20.35 / 20.13 according to the official chip times)

Position: 744 / 12234 (top 6.08%)

Official Results: London 10,000 (search page)

Official Results: London 10,000 (search fields completed)

Official Results: London 10,000 on Run Britain
Really Cool bespoke stats page: RunPix

Silverstone Grand Prix 10k 2016

The Silverstone Grand Prix 10k race is a midweek race hosted by Silson Joggers and takes place on the Silverstone motor racing circuit. The race has been held here since 1984 and 2016 marked the 33rd running of the race. It comprises the East Midlands Grand Prix Series, the Milton Keynes Schools Challenge and the Motor Sports Challenge. The race is also open to handcycle and wheelchair athletes.

I entered as an affiliated runner online for a very reasonable £10.50 (and that also included the admin fee that Runner's World apply). Even with this race being a midweek affair, it still manages to attract a very large field and with over 1,000 entrants is actually the largest 10k road race in the Midlands. Being held at a race track that is used to coping with 300,000 people on F1 race day, the 1,172 runners plus their supporters were barely a blip on the venue's radar.

silverstone [photo:dani]

The Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit was built on the site of the former World War II bomber station, RAF Silverstone. This was home to Wellington Bombers during the war, but soon after the war had ended it started to be used for motor racing. The track itself has been modified and improved many times over the years and Silverstone is, of course, best known as the home of the British Formula 1 Grand Prix.

After driving over from Dartford earlier in the day and spending the afternoon hanging out in Towcester, we reached the venue just a few minutes before 5.30pm which was the earliest possible time that we would be allowed onsite. The Silverstone staff put us in a holding area with a few other early birds until they were ready for us to enter the car park. The car park itself is located within the perimeter of the track so we had to cross the track via a couple of bridges before we reached it.

pre-race [photos: 7t / dani]

The Race HQ was located inside one of the pit garages and after collecting my number (with in-built timing chip) had plenty of time to mill around taking photos before starting my warm up. The toilets were about 100 metres away from the pits and were more than sufficient for the numbers of people on-site for the event. The Silverstone gift shop and the Paddock Cafe were both open so we milled around those too.

The wheelchair race got under way at 7.25pm and the main race followed at 7.30pm. The participants generally started to get in position about 20 minutes beforehand and there was a great atmosphere as we waited in the warm spring evening's sun for things to kick off. Eventually my wife and daughter had to leave the start area and they found a nice spot to watch from the pit lane. After they left, I bumped into a former Dartford Harriers runner who was the race adjudicator for the evening.

The 10 kilometres are made up by running two, clockwise laps of the pre-2010 main circuit which is called 'The Bridge Circuit'. The Bridge Circuit has now been decommissioned for motor racing, mostly because the bridge itself is in very close proximity to the track and has been deemed unsafe, especially for motorcycle racers. For the record, in 2010 the track facilities were upgraded and a new, modified track layout was introduced. This new track layout is not used for the 10k race.

As you may have gathered, this race takes place on a 100% tarmac course and although there are a couple of small changes in elevation, it's all very gentle and can only be classified as being flat. Perfect conditions for an outing in my New Balance Fresh Foam Zante v2 running shoes which are becoming a favourite of mine. At 7.30 sharp, the air horn was sounded and we all headed off down National Pits Straight.

halfway [photos: dani]

Before the race I had thought about what kind of time I would be able to run on a flat 10k course and based on my recent 5k time of 20.35 at the Dartford Heath 5k, I predicted a finish time of around 43 minutes with a perfect race possibly allowing me to dip just under that and into the 42's - a few various online calculators suggested the same. I had also managed to forget to bring my stopwatch so although I had my phone's GPS fired up to track my route, I wasn't able to check any splits while out on the course.

So I reached the first corner, Copse, then proceeded through Maggots which for the evening was dubbed 'the bend of noise' and was manned by a a group of about 20 children with various noise making devices and instruments. Then followed Becketts and Chapel. Trying to hit the apex at each corner was difficult due to the sheer numbers of runners, but I stayed patient and didn't do anything silly. Some of the corners were taken a little wider than I would have liked but there was no other choice.

approaching the finish / supporters [photos:dani]

Along Hanger Straight and through Stowe, along Vale and into Club. It's at this point that the course reaches the new starting grid and the striking new building called 'Silverstone Wing' - this houses the brand new pit lane and race control areas which have been necessary to ensure Silverstone remains the home of British Motorsport.

After this, the course reaches Abbey, Farm and Bridge before entering the twistiest section through Priory, Brooklands and Luffield. This is followed by the long sweeping right hander at Woodcote which leads back onto the National Pits Straight. I have no idea exactly how long it took to run that first lap because I didn't look at the trackside clock to check, but I did spot my wife and daughter and gave them a quick wave. Looking at my Strava data it looks like I hit the 5k point in around 20.40.

finish [photos: dani]

So I continued onto lap 2 where there was a water stop just after the 5k point but I just focussed on the road ahead and got on with the job. As I reached 'the bend of noise' for a second time the track was less congested so I held up my hand a got about 20 hi-fives in a row from the children, which made me smile and I felt a little more relaxed for a bit.

For the rest of the second lap, I found myself neck-and-neck with a fellow runner and I found it really useful to have someone to run alongside. However, as I reached the beginning of the 9th kilometre I started to fade (this section has a little teeny-weeny rise in elevation so I think that lost me a bit of pace - it was four seconds slower than my previous 3 kilometres). Once through that and into the last kilometre I managed to pick the pace up and catch up with and overtake my 2nd lap companion. The cheers from the crowds as I headed into the pit lane towards the finish line really gave me a boost to put in a strong finish.

medal [photos 7t / dani]

Overall, that second lap was a tad slower than the first and I've worked out that it took me 20.51 to complete it. That gave me an overall chip time of 41.31 which was way quicker than I would have thought possible in what I thought was my current shape, so I'm very happy with that. Putting this time into a race time predictor suggests that I could be just about fit enough to run a sub-20 5k again, so I'm looking forward to having a crack at that pretty soon.

Back to Silverstone, and with the race complete I was very grateful to be handed a bottle of water followed by my race medal. The water was my main priority as I could feel my legs starting to cramp up a little. After downing it I was reunited with my wife and daughter and we headed off to the car to have our post-race evening picnic while watching a great sunset. We'd all had a thoroughly good time and thought the race was very well organised - definitely worth the 200 mile round trip and who knows, we might even make a return trip again in the future.

sunset etc [photos: dani]

A few race stats...

Time (chip): 41.31
Time (gun): 41.35
5k splits: 20:40 / 20.51 (estimated)
Position (gun): 172 / 1,172
Official results: Silverstone 10k 2016 (mobile)
GPS data: Silverstone 10k 2016