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

The Bridge (10k and) Fun Run 2014

‘The Bridge’ area of Dartford is a bit of a no man’s land between central Dartford and the River Thames/Dartford crossing. It was originally marsh land (in Mother Nature’s eyes probably still is) and with the exception of a couple of footbridges is virtually cut off from the main part of Dartford by a dual carriageway (University Way / Bob Dunn Way).

the bridge

Since 1939 it has been home to Littlebrook power station – an evolving series of four oil and coal fired power stations (A, B, C and D). At the beginning of the 1980s Littlebrook D with its 215 metre (705 ft.) tall chimney, which is the fourth tallest in the UK, replaced the earlier stations and is now one of the most prominent features of Dartford’s skyline and can be seen for miles in every direction.

littlebrook d

The area is currently being developed further with a mix of industrial warehouses, housing, a sculpture trail, and a school. It is very quiet apart from the odd car, lorry or ‘fastrack’ bus service and completely flat – which does of course make it good for a nice fast race (providing it’s not too windy). The Bridge Events Dartford run a number of events in the area throughout the year and one of them is a race that I ran in 2013 - The Bridge 10k.

sporting a slgr wristband

Moving on to 2014 and the 10k event clashed with the Tonbridge Half-Marathon, which I had chosen to enter instead. However, I had hurt my foot and decided to pull out of the half marathon and rest. So on the morning of the event I was now at a loose end and my daughter really wanted to ‘run with the other children’ – my first thought was to go to a junior parkrun, but as the car had a flat battery (again) we decided to take a walk down to The Bridge instead, where in addition to the 10k there was a 2km kids’ fun run.

horsing around / warming up

We arrived on foot just after the 10k had started and found a decent spot to take some photos of our So Let’s Go Running (SLGR) team mates. Both the main race and the fun run use the relatively wide shared-use pedestrian/cycling paths – this year the 10k used a different route to the 2013 event. As the 10k race progressed we made our way over to the race HQ where we continued to take photos before putting an entry (£3) in for the kids’ fun run, which was scheduled to start at 11.30am.

she means business

The course for the fun run took the children (and some adults) on a 2km clockwise loop around one of the lakes and through some of the housing. The course was fully marshalled and it was all on pavements, but with my daughter being only four years old I didn't really want her to be out of my sight and all alone so far away. As the run drew near, I started to think that I should accompany her around, but my foot was hurting and jogging would have been difficult…

moments before they were released

… fortunately a couple of my SLGR team mates volunteered their services and very kindly ran/walked with her while I stayed at race HQ. I am very grateful to Steph and Rachel for doing this, especially as they had both just finished running the full 10k race not long before and could probably have done with a little more time to recover!

getting into the swing of things

So at 11.30am they went off on the 2 kilometre loop, I took some photos at the start, and before I knew it they were out of sight and I did my anxious parent routine while waiting for them to reappear. Approximately 16 minutes later I caught a glimpse of the three of them heading towards the finish line. As they reached the finish funnel, my daughter’s fantastic escorts peeled off so that she could enter the finish funnel and cross the line on her own.

matilda flanked by her #teamslgr escorts

I could see her looking for me as she got closer to the finish line and when she spotted me her face lit up and my heart melted. She looked so, so proud of herself and I, equally, was proud to watch her approaching and then crossing the line in a finishing time of 18-and-a-bit minutes (by my watch – the fun run wasn't officially timed). She was presented with her finisher’s medal and after a quick hug, she made a bee-line for the water and snacks that were available for all of the participants.

wohoooooo go matilda!

Afterwards she was reunited with the rest of #TeamSLGR for a quick photo-shoot. Then she ran off and played with some of the other children for a while. Our little trip down to The Bridge was almost at an end, but not before handing the DSLR to Matilda so she could take some more photos, which are all in an album on flickr. We had a great morning and we took a mixture of not-so-good and fairly decent photos of the rest of the SLGR runners during and after the 10k.

#teamslgr

Dartford Bridge 10k 2013

The Dartford Bridge 10k race takes place in the new development called 'The Bridge' on the south side of Dartford Bridge, in Dartford. 2013 was the third running of this race and the second time I had entered it - On the other occasion I had pulled out.

'The Bridge' development is set in 80 acres of open public space and when the whole development is complete, will offer 1,500 new homes and 1.8 million sq ft of commercial space. It is Europe's largest area of regeneration.

Race number (together with combined timing chip) were available at the race HQ for collection upon arrival. As we live so close to this race, I cycled down to pick up mine as part of my warm up session.

Upon arrival at the venue, vehicles follow signs to the car park, which is in Littlebrook Power Station. We didn't actually park in the official car park. Instead we parked on the other side of the Bob Dunn Way - which is a stretch of road that separates the new development from the established parts of Dartford.

As race time approached, the runners congregated at the race HQ (also the finish) before being ushered 150 metres down the road for the start, which was at 10am sharp. I lined up quite close to the front because this was to be a pb attempt and didn't want to get caught in the crowds as I so often end up doing.

My 10k personal best of 42.07 was set at the Staplehurst 10k back in 2011. so my plan for my pb attempt was set out as follows;

• Reach 5k in 21 minutes flat
• Try to maintain the pace for the next 5k

The course is flat and all on tarmac. It is run mostly on the wide shared-use pavements, with only the odd section on the roads themselves. There's not really any traffic because most of the roads are not really in use for anything at this stage as the area has only been part-developed.

It is made up of a short start section, which then joins a main loop. You run this loop two-and-bit times in a clockwise direction before breaking off and entering the finishing section. Apart from a couple of lakes and grassland, there's not anything particularly interesting to look at around the course and it just feels like being out for a training run.

However the course is well marked and there are marshals at all of the road crossings and other crucial points around the course. There are also km markers at the relevant places all around the course. Some sections of the course suffered from a head wind so it was a bit tough at times. There were a few pockets of people supporting the runners and I was grateful for their encouragement.

Anyway, my personal best attempt - I hit the 1km marker in 4 minutes flat, which was a little fast so I eased off ever so slightly and put in three consecutive 4.11 kilometres. As I approached the 5 kilometre marker I was avoiding looking at my stopwatch until the very last moment, so when I passed it I was pleased to see that it said 21.04 - Almost spot on!

However, if I maintained that overall pace for the rest of the race I would end up 1 second outside my personal best. So now the race was on - Me2013 vs Me2011. I couldn't care less what finishing position I finished in or if I was out-sprinted at the very end.

I increased my pace by 1 second-per-kilometre until I hit the 9km point and decided to push that little bit more. Before I knew it I had reached the point in the loop where I would peel off and head for home. I could see the finish line in the distance and then I could hear music playing. Then the crowd started getting a little excited..

As I entered the finish funnel I had no idea that I and the runner behind me were giving the crowd their first real bit of excitement of the day. He was sprinting furiously behind me as I had my eyes focused on the clock at the finish, so when he just pipped me at the line I suddenly realised why the crowd had been so vocal as I was approaching!

So I crossed the line and had my medal put around my neck. My supporters came and found me and told me that there were free things for me at the race HQ area, so I wandered over and picked up a banana, a twix, a bag of crisps and a cup of water. As I currently eat only raw foods for breakfast these days the banana and water were quickly consumed while the rest would have to wait until later.

A few minutes later the first set of official timings were printed and stuck on a notice board.

Position: 23rd (by gun time)

Gun Time: 41.57

Chip Time: 41.50

Of course, the chip timing is what I use for my own records. So it was a new personal best by a whopping 17 seconds! I managed 5k splits of 21.04 and 20.46 - Always nice to run a negative split race.

Overall it was a good, flat 10k race and if you're looking to test yourself at the distance, it is a good course. You won't be blown away by the views (unless you like building sites, power stations and superstore depots) but you might just be able to knock out a fast time and walk away with a big cheesy grin all over your face!

Updated to add the link to the official results and also a snapshot of my kilometre splits. Finally a huge thanks to Mrs7t and Lime for coming down to support me and for taking the photos for the blog.