Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Blean Woods

The Kent Fitness League fixture at Blean Woods, Rough Common is another great venue, but in the times I have run here I've always had trouble deciding whether to wear trail shoes or cross-country spikes. The problem is that the course features a fairly even split between squelchy mud and hard stony paths. So for the final race of the 2017/18 KFL season, I took both shoe options.

dartford harriers [photo: eden]

Upon arrival in the village of Rough Common, I found a space on a side street to park the car. For the record, the on-street car parking is very tight here, so it's a good idea to arrive early and be prepared to drive up-and-down the streets searching for a space. The race HQ is in the Rough Common Village Hall, and this is also where the toilets are located.

Standing in the hall looking out of the door at the combination of sleet and hail stones, it was clear that this outing was going to be pretty miserable. After chatting to some team mates, I found out that it was also quite windy out on the playing fields where the race starts and finishes. So heading over to the fields in the rain, I was eager to get started.

into the woods [photo: eden]

Back to the shoes conundrum - I had made a decision and went for the spikes. After a quick warm-up it was time to get going. So, after one-and-a-half laps around the sports fields and it was time to dive into the woods themselves. The entry began with a plunge into some fairly nasty mud which released the almighty stench lurking within.

The paths in the woods switch between thick mud and firm, stony paths. So, going back to the shoe choice, I think the best advice I can offer is this; if you really can't stand running on hard paths in spikes then go for your trail shoes. However, if you can deal with being uncomfortable underfoot at times, you will benefit from spikes on the muddier sections.

playing fields heading to the finish [photo: eden]

The paths undulate all the way around, and the ups-and-downs are typically covered over fairly long stretches. I tried to stick to the edges of the hard paths in an attempt to soften the impact, but it wasn't always possible to find enough soft mud to make much difference. With the wooded section complete, the course heads back out onto the sports field and around to the finish.

And with the race complete, the 2017/18 Kent Fitness League cross-country season came to a close. I quickly got changed out of my running gear and into something a little warmer. However, I was frozen to the core, so I discreetly trotted off in the direction of the car.

kfl 2017/18 season complete [thanks to paul for taking the post-race photo of me]

My club, Dartford Harriers, had won the team competition again (Hooops!). For me personally, it marked my second consecutive complete season (all seven races) and my KFL streak reached 15 consecutive races. It turns out that I also ran a course best time, shaving 15 seconds off my previous best from the 2016/17 race.

Official Results: KFL 2017/18 - Blean Woods

Race stats:

• Overall position: 80 / 329
• Gender position:  77 / 228
• Age category position (VM40-44): 10 / 20
• Rating: 66.67

Links:

• KFL 2017/18: Blean Woods GPS data
• Relive course fly-by video
• Official results
• My Kent Fitness League course information page
• My full KFL stats page

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Nurstead Court

Race six of the 2017/18 Kent Fitness League season took place in the grounds of the Grade I Listed Nurstead Court in Meopham. The grounds here are used by equestrians and features a purpose built cross-country course as well as many other horse related facilities.

dartford harriers

So, in the pre-race briefing we were told that the horses had been out in one of the fields and had churned it up, I noted it but wasn't overly concerned. The horn sounded and we all flew off to test ourselves over one of the best cross-country courses in the league. A real bonus was that the weather had slight spring feel to it, so I didn't have to wear a hat, arm warmers or gloves.

If you've read any of my previous posts (2014/15 and 2016/17) about this venue, you'll have a good idea what this course is like. If you haven't, you'll be pleased to hear that it has a bit of everything; uphills, downhills, mud, a water crossing, tree roots, branches, logs and bales of hay to jump over, forest paths, fields, open grass areas, and even some bomb craters!

kfl

As soon as we headed off along the start/finish straight, it was clear that the course was going to be soft underfoot and by the time I reached the water crossing (800 metres into the course) I was already suffering. This could in-part have been due to not having a proper warm-up - you see, there were five portaloos available and the queue was really long when I arrived. Long story short, my warm-up lasted 2 minutes.

So continuing around the first lap, I leapt over the bales of hay and then flew along the slightly downhill perimeter of the main horse shoe-jumping training field. Then I entered the woods - the twisty path was muddy, tree roots and logs were lurking everywhere. Through another field and then out onto a straight path which was caked in mud - I remember the first time I ran here and really struggling on the path. It was similar this time, but I was wearing spikes so coped ok.

kfl

After a short, sharp incline, I entered the muddiest of all fields. It wasn't just regular mud, it was churned up mud. Each footstep was a struggle and required vast amounts of energy to wade through - it was at this point I realised that my left shoe was a little loose. There was no way I was going to stop to re-tie the shoelace, thankfully it stayed attached to my foot for the rest of the race.

Now into the second wooded section - the fun to be had in here is off-the-scale! The paths twist all over, the terrain goes up and down - it was like a muddy, slightly dangerous, rollercoaster track. At the end of this section, the bomb craters are found - three of them. I was totally knackered already, but I dropped in and powered out of each one in turn. A few more twisty paths and then it was time for the long, uphill, drag towards the end of the lap.

kfl

At the top, I swung around and headed straight back down the hill to start lap 2. Strangely, despite feeling totally exhausted, with my arms seemingly just flapping around not under my control, I did manage to continue to catch and overtake quite a few other participants during the second half of the race. Water splash, hay bales, mud, downhill, uphill, and bomb craters all over again and it was time for the final stretch back along the opening path, and with that done, some serious recovery time was needed.

I picked up 97th finish position, which I was expecting to be a little higher. But that was out of 404 runners in total, so it's still in the top 25% overall. I was a few seconds slower than the previous year, but I think the course conditions were worse this time around, so on balance I think it worked out ok.

There were a few photographers out on the course whose photos I have used here, so I'm very grateful to Dawn Granger, Brian Pitkin, Eden Summers and my wife for getting some fantastic shots of the action.

My results:

• Official time: 38.16
• Overall position: 97 / 404
• Gender position: 91 / 277
• Age group position (VM40-44): 7 / 19
• Rating: 67.51

Links:

• Nurstead Court 2017/18 Official Results Page
• My GPS Data
• The relive course flyby video
• Kent Fitness League Venue Guide

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Minnis Bay

The fifth fixture of the 2017/18 Kent Fitness League season was Minnis Bay. It is one of those venues that some runners love and others avoid like the plague. The reason lies at around the 7 kilometre point where the course leaves the main path and the runners have to face the six dykes (or ditches).

In true cross-country style the dykes are generally muddy and possibly also full of water - depending on how wet the weather has been dictates how muddy they are. Typically you'll find a few slightly muddy dykes and one or two really muddy ones filled with water which is sometimes above knee height.

photos: dani / eden summers

The January 2018 race attracted a field of 381 runners which was a record attendance for this venue. This was probably aided by the decent weather forecast. My club, Dartford Harriers, won the team competition, but as we have such a strong team, I was not one of the scoring runners. In the three occasions I have now run here it was the first time I haven't scored for the team at this venue.

Anyway, my race was fairly non-eventful. I started close enough to the front to avoid any holdups and was able to run at my chosen pace/effort level almost all the way round. The long outward 4 kilometre stretch parallel to the seafront was slightly splashy and ensured that my feet were soaked through from an early point in the race.

photos: funk dooby / brian pitkin

I find the toughest things about this course are the long, long stretches of running in a straight line. The course is essentially one huge triangle. Underfoot was generally quite uneven with patches of stones every now and then which I tried to avoid as I was wearing my spikes. The turn inland was followed by more running in a straight line, and then more of the same alongside the railway line.

It wasn't long before those dykes were upon us. One of the runners in the group I was in made a move and got a few spaces ahead which reduced his waiting time for each dyke. By the end of this section he had gained about 20 seconds on me. I've noted this tactic for next year.

photos: funk dooby / dawn granger

I had a further hold-up during a short, twisty, single track trail when the runner in front of me took this a little slower than he had been running. This resulted in the runners behind me gaining some ground. I was well and truly knackered towards the end and after running over the four sand dunes didn't have much left for a sprint finish.

The full results were available a few days later and I was pleased to have beaten my previous year's time. It was only 2 seconds faster, but I'll take it! Lastly, there were quite a few great photographers out on the course, so I'd like to say a special thank you to you all for capturing all the great moments in this race.

photos: dawn granger

Official Results Page: KFL Minnis Bay January 2018

My results:
Overall position: 81 / 381
Gender position: 77 / 262
Age category position (VM40-44): 10 / 25
Official time: 43.17
Rating: 70.99

Other links:

• My GPS data on Strava: KFL Minnis Bay January 2018
• Video on youtube: Relive course flyby video
• Venue guide: Kent Fitness League Venue Guide

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Fowlmead

The fourth race of the 2017/18 Kent Fitness League (my venue info page) was held at Betteshanger Park. The park was formerly called Fowlmead and, for now at least, the cross country race has retained this name. This venue is the furthest drive of the XC season for me, and it took about 1 hour and 20 minutes to travel there from Dartford.

In fact I almost didn't make it to the race at all - The day before I had an unexplained sharp pain on the inside of my left shin and thought I would have to sit this one out. Fortunately it wasn't too bad on the day and I made the last minute decision to go ahead.

The race is run on a two-and-a-bit lap clockwise course around the country park. Underfoot is mostly hard surfaces, but can be quite uneven at times. I can't imagine there would ever be any need to wear spikes on this course, but trail shoes are quite handy.

dartford harriers [photos: eden / dani]

Every time I have run this race the course has been slightly different. In previous years I remember running a short off-road section that begins with quite a steep, uneven downhill. This section was missing from the course - I'm not entirely sure why, but I would imagine that it was for safety reasons.

The big story from this year's race was the wind. The forecast predicted 45mph winds and I can confirm that it was spot on. It was blowing from the East which meant that there was a headwind along the straight at the end of each lap and it was pretty brutal.

I found that I felt ok on the first lap, but that headwind at the end of lap 1 knocked the steam out of me and I really struggled on lap 2 resulting in a positive split of almost a minute. But that was fine because cross-country can quite often work out like that. On lap two I would have preferred to have been chasing and overtaking, but instead I was the one being overtaken.

dartford harriers [photos: funkdooby]

In the end the wind took its toll and gave me an earache as I reached the final kilometre. Then it was a case of pushing into the 45mph gusts all the way to the finish line. Totally shattered, I wandered over to the cafe to get out of the wind. Yes, I was cold, but it was the earache that most bothered me. Once out of the wind it eased off and I felt fine.

Upon crossing the finish line I had been handed finishing position token 68, which was my highest finishing position of the season so far. The full results were processed and available online a few days later.

Official Results: KFL Fowlmead January 2018

My race stats:
Overall position: 68 / 341
Gender position: 65 / 230
Official time: 34:57
Rating: 72.17

Data etc:
My GPS course data: KFL Fowlmead January 2018
My Relive course fly-by video: KFL Fowlmead January 2018

Additional link: My Kent Fitness League venue information page

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Oxleas Wood

The third race of the 2017-18 season was run at Oxleas Wood, which is the wooded area you can see to the side of Shooters Hill. This race marked my third outing at this venue over the last four seasons. The first two races of the season had been so-so...

The season opener at Knole Park was ruined by a pain in my stomach. Then at the second race in Swanley I got caught in congestion early on and found myself quite far adrift of where I would have liked to be.

I came into the Oxleas Wood race with more of an aggressive mindset - the previous year I had started too slowly and got caught in congestion during the early part of the wooded section. I wanted to avoid that this time around, and so did the race organisers - Plumstead Runners. So this year the beginning of the course was lengthened in order to thin the runners out before entering the woods.

oxleas wood (oxleas meadows) [photos: 7t]

The race start time was set for 11am, however a couple of minutes beforehand it was announced that there would be a 10 minute delay. The weather was pretty cold (it always is here) and there had been an early morning frost, so to keep warm I started a second warm-up session of light jogging until we had our two-minute warning.

As I mentioned, the course had changed a little this year. So the beginning was a little different and involved a large loop around a line of trees and bushes adding a couple of hundred extra metres to the course. I'm not entirely sure if it helped further down the field but I can confirm that I entered the woods and didn't have to deal with any congestion. My start had been more aggressive than before, but to be honest, I was never going to go too crazy early on.

My race featured a bit of overtaking and a bit of being overtaken. I struggled on some of the inclines but I fared better on the flatter sections. I rolled my left ankle but I appear to have gotten away without doing any damage. I wore my spikes for this race because I found them really beneficial the year before. However, the ground was much dryer this time around and I reckon trail shoes would've done the job nicely.

oxleas wood [photos: eden summers]

After 38 minutes and 14 seconds, I crossed the finish line, weaved through the funnel and collected my finishing disc, which I was surprised to see was number 80. Bear in mind that I had finished in 146th and 135th in the first two races, so to be well within the top 100 was a bit of a shock. Not only that, but I had run a new course best despite it actually being a few hundred metres longer. To be fair, the course was the driest I have ever seen it, so was a lot faster than it usually is.

Official Results Page: KFL Oxleas Wood Results 2017
Overall position: 80 / 460
Gender position: 78 / 324
Official time: 38.14

My GPS Data: KFL Oxleas Wood 2017
Video: Relive course flyby video

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

Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Somerhill School

The Somerhill Schools are based at Somerhill House in Tonbridge, Kent. The house is a Grade I listed Jacobean Mansion, and was built between 1611-1613. It sits atop the highest point of the 150 acres of stunning parkland.

somerhill

This venue was used for race 2 of the 2017-18 season. The weather had been fairly dry and underfoot was a mixture of grass, very dry dirt and some slightly softer sections - a lot of people wore spikes but I found trail shoes were fine.

The course used this season was, I think, slightly different to previous years and featured 3 laps. The first was slightly shorter than the second and third and made the total distance run up to 10km. The profile of the course can be described as hilly with a combination of long shallow inclines and some short, sharper ones.

the grounds / race shot (thanks to prem)

The course itself feels like quite a permanent fixture of the grounds and I have seen that Somerhill hosts quite a lot of different cross-country events. It's a really enjoyable (assuming punishing yourself in this way can be described as enjoyable) course to run.

My race was reasonable and I finished ten places higher than I had in the season opener. I was still way down the field as expected, but then again I'm only running about 20km per week in training so it's not too bad considering that.

another race shot (thanks again to prem) / a short sharp incline on the course

Links:

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

Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Stanhill Farm

The first fixture of the Kent Cross Country League (KXCL) 2017 was at Stanhill Farm, Wilmington and hosted by my running club, Dartford Harriers. The farm covers an area of 150 acres and by cross country standards is almost completely flat.

The venue has an area set aside for parking near the main entrance and a charge of £1 was levied. If the car park fills up, there are some side streets within a kilometre of the venue which could be used as an alternative.

The team areas were all set up next to the car park and some portaloos had also been installed for the purpose of the event. I was issued with my number bib and this was to be re-used for each of the four races in the series.

After watching some of the youngsters running in their events, it was time for the senior and veteran races to begin. The women were first, but I didn't see much of this race as I was largely doing my final preparations (visit the toilet, warm up, etc..) for my race.

Underfoot the ground was very dry and firm so I decided to run in my trail shoes - not everybody did the same - some wore spikes while others opted for standard road shoes. If it has been softer underfoot I would gone for spikes, but overall I think trail shoes were the right choice.

Anyway, the mens race started at 14:45 and after a quick team photo, I mingled into the middle of the pack to await the starter's gun. From where I was positioned the start was not quite as swift as I would have expected and I found myself locked into a slower-than-desired starting pace.

The course is run on the farmer's tracks around the edge of the fields and there is a slight uphill slope from the start area towards the back end of the course. Almost all of the corners are 90 degree turns. The men's race covers a total distance of 9.8km and involves completing four laps with first being shorter than the second, third and fourth.

So with my slowish start, I found myself largely catching and overtaking people as I progressed through the race. With the four laps done, the course breaks off from the main loop for a 250 metre dash to the finish line.

As for performance, this league attracts the top county runners so I knew I would be finishing down in the second half of the field, and that's exactly where I was. The official results were available shortly after the race and I had finished in position 179 out of 294 in an official time of 42:21.

In the post-race discussions the general feeling was that I was far too gentlemanly at the start and should have got as close to the front as possible in order to avoid losing the time and positions in the crowd at the beginning.


Links:
Results: Official KXCL results page (senior mens race)
GPS data: KXCL Stanhill Farm 2017
Video: Stanhill Farm relive course fly-by
Video: KXCL Stanhill Farm 2017 posted by Mark Hookway

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Swanley Park

Following my disastrous start to the 2017-18 Kent Fitness League season, I headed over to Swanley Park to take part in the second race of the series, hoping that I'd have a better race without a repeat of the stomach issues that ruined the season opener at Knole Park.

I started the race on tired legs that had already run a parkrun and raced the Foots Cray Meadows Kent Cross Country League race the day before. The course at Swanley was the same as it was the season before, you can read about it here, so I won't go into great detail about it.

A year beforehand, I had got a brilliant start and completed the course without encountering any hold-ups. This time around, I found myself pinned into the middle of the pack at the start and encountered a great deal of congestion throughout the first few kilometres.

This was topped off by coming to a dead stand still as the pack filtered through a narrow pinch point just over a mile into the race. This poor start meant that I was already way off where I would have expected to be (probably 40 seconds adrift after the first two kilometres).

The rest of the race consisted mostly of reeling people in and overtaking them (which was fun), but no matter how hard I pushed there was no way for me to regain the ground I had lost early on. I finally crossed the line in 136th position in a time of 38.22, which was 59 seconds slower than a year earlier.

A change I did make for this race was that I wore my trail shoes instead of my spikes, which I had regretted wearing during 2016's race. Swanley Park had not suffered much with the recent rain and the grass/dirt areas were generally pretty firm. I was much happier in my trail shoes, so was happy with that decision.

My Results:

• Position: 136 out of 566
• Gender position: 126 out of 379
• Time: 38.22

Links:

• KFL Swanley Park 2017 Official Results
• KFL Swanley Park 2017 GPS data
• KFL Swanley Park 2017 course fly-by video
• KFL Swanley Park 2016 blog post
• KFL Venue Guide

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Knole Park

The 2017/18 Kent Fitness League cross-country season got underway at the stunning Knole Park in Sevenoaks. For details on car parking, toilets and an in-depth course description please have a look at my main Kent Fitness League information page or my blog post from 2016's race.

The run up to the race had been pretty good, topped off with a sub-20 5k at Southwark parkrun just two weeks before the race - this meant I was in roughly the same shape (if not slightly faster) as I was a year earlier. 2017's event saw slightly fewer participants than the record-breaking 2016 event, but there was still a very high turnout of 493 participants.

At the starter's orders we all shot off on our first KFL outing of the year. I had already had a decent warm-up and flowed with the pack as we negotiated the early part of the course. By the time I was nearing the top of the long, gradual incline I could feel my stomach starting to tighten. I held my pace and focussed on my breathing in the hope that I could bring it under control.

It seemed ok until I hit the short, sharp downhill section at the far end of the course. At this point the feeling in my stomach changed to a stitch or possibly a stomach cramp on my left hand side, and it was the worst running pain I've ever had. My pace slowed and runners from behind started to stream past. I shuffled on, maintaining a pace, but it was not much more than what I would run during an easy run.

All the way through the second lap, runners continued to catch and pass me, and there was nothing I could do. The pain was too intense. Then, with about a mile left in the race, another pain which felt more like a traditional stitch appeared on the right hand side. I had no choice but to stop and walk - I strategically picked the incline into the woods to do this so as to lose less time than on the flat.

At the top of the incline I shuffled back into a run and before I knew it, I had completed the last kilometre and crossed finish line. I was handed finish token number 146, which is my worst ever KFL finishing position.

After looking forward to this race for so long, it was a huge disappointment that it panned out how it did. However, I mustn't linger on it and I suppose I should be happy that I finished only about two-and-a-half-minutes slower than in 2016 despite the horrendous race I'd just had.

Links:

• Official results
• My GPS data
• The relive fly-by video of the course

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)

Run>Dartford: Central Park Athletics 2,000m Track Race 2017

The Run Dartford race series started in 2016 and I ran every race in that first season resulting in a fourth place trophy for me. When 2017's series came around, I was having some trouble with my ankle and decided to give the series a miss.

However, there was one new race added to the series and I really fancied giving it a go. So. I entered the final race of the series which was a 2,000 metre track race at my running club's home track, Central Park Athletics, in Central Park, Dartford.

start [photo: dani]

If you haven't read all about the series, please have a quick read of my Run Dartford information page or visit the official Run Dartford webpage and read about it there.

I'd never run a 2,000 metre track race before - the closest I had done would have been a 1 mile track time trial, or 1,500m or 3.000m races. The exact pacing was going to be just a fraction off 1 mile pace.

I had run just under 6 minutes for a 1 mile race a couple of months earlier so I knew that I'd be able to easily run a sub-8 time and had an idea that 7.30 would be a good target with anything under 7.30 being an exceptional performance for me at my current fitness level.

end of lap 1 [photo: alan]

With that in mind, I went over to the track a few days before the race to practice my pacing - my main concern being that I'd be dragged along too quickly over the first lap. The track session went well and I ended up doing 10x407 with each lap coming in at somewhere around the 90 second mark - just the right pace I need to run during the race.

On the night of the race I paid the £5 entry fee and had a nice warm-up run around the track with my friend Adam. It was mostly an easy pace, but we did include 200m at race pace followed by a few strides to get the legs in the zone for the faster pace required for the race.

end of lap 2 [photo: alan]

The runners were divided into groups of similar ability and each group had their own heat - there were four heats in total. As I usually end up towards the front end of the field, I was put in the fastest group. This was good, but did increase the risk of being dragged along too fast during the opening lap.

So I hatched an opening lap pacing plan and before I knew it, the race briefing was happening and I was ushered over to the start line. The 2,000m race takes place over 5 laps of a standard 400m running track and with the race under way, I immediately placed myself at the back of the pack (that was the plan) as we headed around the opening bend.

starting lap 3 [photo: dani]

The pace felt solid but comfortable during this lap and I moved up one position just after the 200 metre point. The fastest runners had already headed off into the distance, but I was now in a pack of 7 runners.

I spent the second and third laps in the pack, but on the outer edge running in lanes 2 or 3 which meant I was running further than I needed to (maybe 7-10 metres or so extra over each lap). For the record, I went through the halfway point (2.5 laps / 1,000m) in 3.45 which was perfectly on pace for the time I hoped I would run.

end of lap 4 [photo: alan]

The pace of the pack started to slow during the third lap, so towards the end of lap 3 I knew I had to get myself onto the inside lane and have my own space. So I moved to the front of the pack and got myself over. Behind me, the pack then started to fragment.

Lap 4 went by pretty well and before I knew it I was on the final lap and slowly gaining on the runner in front. The final 100 metres saw me moving closer to the runner in front, but at the same time found myself being overtaken by the runner behind me. I pushed as hard as I could and then it was over.

end of the final lap [photo: alan]

Individual and cumulative (x.xx) lap times:
Lap 1: 1.28 (1.28)
Lap 2: 1.30 (2.58)
Lap 3: 1.35 (4.33)
Lap 4: 1.30 (6.03)
Lap 5: 1.26 (7.29)

Looking at my lap split times I was pleased with the way my pacing had gone, the only blip was that third lap, but overall I finished in 7.29 which, being sub-7.30, was a fantastic result for me. The official results were published the day after and my time was confirmed.

the series medal (completion of four races required to qualify for one)

Links:
Run Dartford 2017 series race results webpage
Run Dartford 2017 series consolidated results PDF
My GPS data

My stats:
Official time: 7.29
Age grading: 66.74%
Position (by time): 11/53
Position (by age grading): 19/53

Swanley Relays 2017

The Swanley Relay race (4 x 1 mile) is hosted by Swanley and District AC, usually on the first Wednesday of July, every year in Swanley Park (aka New Barn Park) in Swanley. I've run this race once before (2014) and subsequently, whilst injured, organised teams for another (2015) during my time at SLGR.

This time around, a few of us got together to create a team. However we were not all from the same running club (1 Dartford Road Runner and 3 Dartford Harriers), so we needed a team name to run under. I had spent some days trying to come up with a decent one, but it had eluded me until, a few hours before the race one of our team was seriously considering pulling out due to a sore hamstring.

After a bit of a discussion, he decided to proceed and that lead me to proposing the name 'Hurty Hammie and the Hoops' (Hoops being the nickname for Dartford Harriers). So after a bit of post-work rushing around we finally arrived at the venue and headed for the registration desk.

'hurly hommie and the hoops'

We paid out £10 entry fee and began to discuss which order we should run in - this discussion always comes up in relays and over the last few years, I have become a big fan of starting with the predicted slowest runner and getting progressively faster, finishing with the quickest. We all agreed that it was a sound plan and we went ahead with that method.

With our name recorded incorrectly on the official paperwork, for the evening we became 'Hurly Hommie and the Hoops' which sounds a bit like the name of a 1950s/60s band. We all actually ended up liking it despite the spelling errors. The race start time was scheduled for 7.15pm and at around that point the first set of runners from all 28 teams were despatched...

On lead guitar and vocals was 'Hurly Hommie' himself (richey), and while he held back a bit to protect that hamstring, still put in a respectable time of 06.52 (team position 23). He handed the imaginary baton over to the rhythm guitarist (me) for the second leg of the race.

putting in the effort with about 100 metres to go [photo: brian page]

I managed to pick off seven runners on my way around the course, which is mostly on grass and is generally flat-ish, but it does have a little incline and bumpy trail to deal with about half-way through. I went around in 05.47 and was happy to have achieved my goal of running under 6 minutes.

With the race half-way done, we were sitting in 16th position. I handed the virtual baton over to our funky bass player (adam). With a time of 05.21, he had managed overtake six runners and moved us up into 10th position.

Our grand finale was left in the hands of our man-on-the-sticks (jon) who smashed out an amazing drum solo and left the crowd mesmerised with his 04.56 effort. In the process, he had picked off another 3 runners and brought us home in 7th position overall.

The full results were online a few days later and our combined time was 22.56. I did of course record the GPS data of the course and you can view it on Strava: Swanley Relays 2017

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