Dartford Harriers Open - August 2017

My first two 3,000m races ended with less than a second difference between my two results...

2015: SCVAC Kent Divisions meet 1 (Norman Park, Bromley) - 11.26.80
2016: Dartford Harriers Open (Central Park Athletics, Dartford) - 11.27.45

In August 2017 the opportunity to race the distance again came up, so I got myself over to my running club and entered on the evening for £5. That's quite a reasonable price considering the events are all professionally timed and eligible for inclusion on the Power of 10 website.

3,000m is seven-and-a-half laps of a standard 400m running track and despite it being a little more intense than a 5k, I actually really enjoy racing the distance. On the subject of racing, there wasn't really much racing going on from my point of view because the field was mostly made up of youngsters with much more speed in their legs.

Over the last couple of years, I've done more training on the track and one of the big things I've been hoping to improve is my track pacing - it's way too easy to get dragged out with the whippets on the first lap and suffer for the remaining laps.

trackside details

I managed to test out my track pacing a few days before this race during the Run Dartford 2,000m race and that turned out alright (blog here). I put my 2,000m time into a pace calculator and it threw out a suggestion that I would run somewhere between 11.30 and 11.40 over 3,000m, a bit slower than my previous efforts.

First things first - I almost missed the start because I was chatting away before realising that the time was 19.07 and I thought the race started at 19.15. In fact the race was scheduled to start at 19.10 and I just made it to the start line with 30 seconds to spare!

As expected, the majority of the field were faster than me and they headed off out in front while I settled into a nice spot behind another runner further back. The field spread out pretty quickly and after an ever-so-slightly-too-fast opening 400m (1.28) I settled into a nice rhythm.

By the time we hit the 1000m point, I felt it was time to move in front of my companion so I did so on the back straight. From here on in it was a case of ticking off the laps while still maintaining the same pace.

Before I knew it there were two laps (800m) left to go. The first of these was probably the toughest of the whole race, but once it was over the mental boost of being on the final lap kicked in and after reviewing my GPS data it looks like I ran a fairly even-paced race.

With the race over and the results in, I found to my great amusement that I had run 11.27.62 which was still inside the same 1 second window that I had run my previous two 3,000m races. It was also quite satisfying to beat the predicted time from the online race time predictor.

power of 10 results page screenshot

Results:
Position: 14/16
Official Time: 11.27.62

Splits:
1km 3.50 (3.50)
2km 3.44 (7.36)
3km 3.51 (11.27)

Links:
Power of 10: DHAC Open Meeting 3,000m
Power of 10: DHAC Open Meeting Full Results
Results from all the evening's events: DHAC Open full results spreadsheet
GPS data: DHAC Open 3,000m on Strava

Dartford Harriers Open Competition August 2016

A bit of a last minute decision to run this race, but in the absence of a track session so far this week I thought a 3000 metre race would serve as an interesting alternative and being the last of this year's Dartford Harriers AC open competitions on home-turf made it irresistible.

Entries to all track and field events were £5 and made on-the-night only. Before my race started I was able to catch a quick glimpse of some of the 100m races, which looked like fun but I was glad that I had chosen the longer race.

The weather conditions were interesting. No noticeable wind but the temperature had been up to 30 degrees that day and the heat was quite intense. Still, once we got going I coped fairly well with it apart from my mouth feeling a little dry towards the end.

dhac open competition timetable of events

With the 3000m start time set at 19:05 I headed around to the back straight of the track which is where the 7-and-half-lap race begins. There were 14 runners in the race and I had already come up with a plan to try to attempt to run as even a race as possible.

With that in mind, when the starter's pistol was fired I slotted in right at the back of the pack. I knew that it would be easy to get caught up in the faster pace that the majority of the field would be running at. I wanted to finish in under 12 minutes, which was too soft a target to aim for. I thought I'd be able to go faster but didn't want to use the go out (too) hard and (try to) hang on method.

pre-race [thanks to brian page and dani for the photos]

So my plan was to run the first couple of laps at around 12 minute pace 3k pace (1.36 per lap) and then gradually speed it up. Despite purposefully running at the back of the pack I completed the first lap in 1.28, which was a bit faster than planned but effort-wise it felt right.

I stayed right at the back for the first 700 metres but then felt that I was being held back so I moved up a couple of places where there was some clear air and in the process spent a little to long out in lane 2. The runners at the front of the field were way off in the distance by now, but I just focussed on my own race.

3000m [thanks to brian page and dani for the photos]

My pacing was going well and I certainly felt much better than at my only other previous 3000 metre track race where I really suffered during the latter stages. I felt much more in control of what was happening this time around and enjoyed it a lot more. I passed one more runner and was then on my own for the rest of the race, which I think ultimately may have lead to me relaxing a little too much and not pushing hard enough at the end.

I really hate running with my phone on my arm and I was going to leave it off, but if I had I wouldn't have had  my Strava GPS data to analyse after. I also ran with a Garmin but my current computer set-up isn't compatible with it so annoyingly I can't pull any data off of it (I'd like to change this soon).

full results from the power of 10 website

Before the race, I had looked up my previous 3000 metre track best time (11.26.8) and didn't think I'd get that close to it. However, I did manage to get close to it. In fact I was only .6 of a second away from equalling it, which in retrospect I probably could have done if I had had some competition over the last couple of laps. Or if I had just put more effort in during the last 200 metres, which I probably could have done if I had dug a little deeper.

My kilometre splits worked out to be 3.51 / 3.49 / 3.47.

Official result:
Time: 11.27.45
Position: 11 / 14
Full results: Power of 10 - Dartford Harriers Open Meeting 3000m

Links:
Instagram video: Slow-motion video 1 (lap 1, first corner)
Instagram video: Slow-motion video 2 (mid-race)

SCVAC - Kent Divisions 2015: Meet 1 - Norman Park, Bromley

The Southern Counties Veterans Athletics Club (SCVAC) organise a league which consists of track and field events. The 2015 calendar has events roughly every 10-14 days and takes place from May through until July. The events are open to veteran runners (35+) who are members of one of the league's clubs and as I have a second claim membership with Dartford Harriers AC I was able to compete.

during our warmup - discussing how many times we'd be lapped in the 3000m [photo:dani]

My decision to run was very last minute and after rushing home from work and getting changed, I hit the road with the rest of team7t heading towards Bromley (via Richey's house because I had offered to pick up his forgotten running shoes).

The running events on offer at this meet were the 400 metres and the 3000 metres. I met up with the club chairman, Tony and was registered to run both events for the Dartford Harriers B Team (Dartford B) under number H4. The B team are in division 2 of the league. I would be running in the B String. This was my first-ever time running at a track event so some of the terms were alien to me, but it all started to fall into place as the evening went on.

getting in place for the start of the 400m [photo:dani]

The clubs in the league are;


Ashford
Bromley Veterans
Bexley

Cambridge Harriers

Dartford Harriers

Invicta East Kent

Medway and Maidstone
Paddock Wood

Sevenoaks
Swanley

starter with starting pistol at the ready [photo:dani]

My first race was the 400m for which I was assigned lane 2. I haven't actually done that much running on track and I certainly have never specifically trained for such a short race. Anyway, I was there and really excited to get going. Then I heard the legendary words 'on your marks....'

The pause seemed to last forever, but then the starting pistol was fired and the race was on. Straight away it was clear that the runner in lane 1 was travelling at a much quicker pace than everyone else and I watched helplessly as he sailed past me by the time we reached the back straight. I kept my pace as strong as possible and managed to finish in second position in an official time of 67.5 seconds.

finishing the 400m [photo:dani]

For the record, the 400 metre event really gets to you deep inside your lungs - mine were still feeling that ache a good 30 minutes later, but after a little more rest I started to feel my usual self again. Before I knew it it was almost time to head across to the back straight to the 3000 metre race start line. 3000m takes place over 7.5 laps - hence the start being on the back straight.

The division one runners went out first and when they were done the division two runners were called over to take their places. The race official called out our individual numbers and assigned us spots on the curved 3000m start line. Then the starter gave his orders and we were off.

getting ready for the start of the 3000m event [photo:dani]

The field went out pretty fast and I got dragged along with them. As this was my first evening racing on track and my first 3000m race it was destined to be a great learning curve for me. According to my Garmin data I ran the first kilometre in around 3.26 - At the moment that is simply not a pace I could sustain for three kilometres.

So by the time I was about half-way into the race, I started to feel that I was fading. And there wasn't really anything that I could do about it. I found it extra difficult as there were no other runners around me to latch onto, so I just maintained the best pace I could and hoped it'd produce a half-decent result. 

part way through the 3000m [photo:dani]

One very big bonus was the support coming from the sidelines - Dani was there with Matilda, who screamed her heart out every time I went past, and one of my SLGR team mates, Angela, had also come down to cheer us all on. Thank you.

My 3000m finish time was 11.26.8 which was roughly around where I thought I'd be but I could probably have been a touch faster if I had got the pacing right during the first few laps. It's definitely something that I'd like to work on over the next few months, so hopefully I can better that time as the season progresses.

post 3000m with richey [photo:dani]

The full results for the SCVAC Kent Divisions - Men Division 2 can be found here.