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)

Joydens Wood 5k Series 2015 - Race 1

The Joydens Wood 5k series is hosted by Dartford Road Runners with the races taking place on the last Wednesdays of May, June and July. The events are run over three different courses within the woods which means that each runner gets to look forward to being reduced to tears in three different ways.

welcome [photo: dani]

I first heard about these races in 2014. However, I only managed to catch the last race of the series. This year I was better prepared and had kept an eye out for the confirmed dates for all three races and noted them in my diary.

Most of the event details and venue history were covered in my post from July 2014 so please have a read if you need more information. I mentioned in that post that there is a great running community in Dartford and I can only reiterate that now - in fact, for me it feels even stronger than it did then.

the official slgr photographer and chief supporter (note the black and orange) [photo: 7t]

I had pre-registered for all three races and had already collected my bib (7) from the Dartford Road Runners chairman a few days earlier, so I arrived with my number pinned on and ready to run. I'd also brought my daughter and wife who took on the roles of official chief supporter and SLGR photographer for the evening [photo album].

We arrived, found a parking space and got ourselves over to the race HQ area with plenty of time to spare. There were plenty of familiar faces around already and everything was gearing up to be a great evening. The race had a limit of 150 runners and it looked like it could be close to a sell out.

always use double knots. always. [photo: dani]

I went and had a little warm-up and was pleased to find that there was absolutely no queue for the toilets (that's because there are no toilets, just lots and lots of trees - this is the woods after all!).

The race kicked off at 7.15pm sharp and 126 runners headed off on the same undulating/hilly five kilometre course through the ancient woodland that was used last July. Being in the woods, it's a trail race and is almost entirely stony and/or uneven underfoot. There's even a crazy downhill section on loose gravel which would please the thrill seekers amongst you.

assembling at the start line [photo: dani]

My running club, SLGR, had turned up in fairly good numbers (16 of us, which made us the most well represented club on the night) and I was part of a trio that were so evenly matched that we were in close-sight of each other the whole way around.

In fact I spent the first two kilometres watching one of my team mates ease off into the distance and the next two trying to claw back the lost ground.

the slgr trio [photo: dani]

The inclines were steep and uneven in places - sometimes gravelly, sometimes a little softer, but always tough. However, being able to take part in a race in the serenity of the woods made every agonising step worth it. The final incline, known as 'Mount Misery', which is around 800 metres in length, was just as brutal as it was last year.

The trio of top finishing SLGR runners that I had been part of for the entire race finished within an eleven second window in positions 13, 14 and 15. It's not very often (if ever) that we have three runners in the top 15 so it was a good evening for us. The full results are on-line and can be accessed via this page - Joydens Wood 5k - May 2015 Results.

the slgr trio approaching the finish [photo: dani]

My own performance was a whole minute slower than I had been last July, but I was in much better shape back then so that was no surprise to me. My full GPS readings including kilometre splits and the course profile can be found here - Strava: Joydens Wood 5k - May 2015.

It turned out to be a great evening spent in good company. The Dartford Road Runners were great hosts and they deserve much praise for their efforts. As a club they have also been incredibly supportive to us over at Dartford parkrun where I know that the rest of the core team are also very grateful.

#teamslgr [photo: dani]

The second race is scheduled to take place Wednesday 24 June with the final one set for Wednesday 29 July. It's a great venue for a race so if you're local and available it's definitely worth giving one (or both) a go.