New Forest 10

Bit of a late report, but thought I'd write up my experience of running the New Forest 10 a couple of weekends ago.

It was the hottest day of the year so far, and Brad and I were already sweating before we hit the start line. We were set to run at 11.15am, and as the starting gun went we all slowly started off with the masses!

Brad was hoping he could do it in under 2 hours, and I was hoping for anything really - under 1 hour 30 mins would be ok. We all knew it was going to be hard in the heat.

I left Brad quite early on after the first bend, and steadily overtook people and settled in to a good pace as much as I could. I tried speeding up at times, but could feel the heart rate rise as I did, so eased off a bit. Most of the way round I kept getting a side stitch, which I think was a combination of a too heavy breakfast and downing two cups of water shortly before the race.

I ran through the first aid station as I was feeling fine other than hot, but arriving at the second I got hosed down head to toe! Which was great, and I carried on to the last aid station and poured a few more cups over my head.

After what seemed like eternity I could hear the crowds and see the finish line, as I rounded the last corner I musterd as much as I could for a last kick to the finish!

I finished in 1.26.22, and 236 out of 775 people.

I was happy, I knew I wouldn't be breaking any personal bests but was relieved to cross the finish line. The heat made it feel really hard! I got a nice medal too!

Brad came in under two hours as well, so he was pleased. My friend Alex also came in just after me at the finish line, and officially beat me by a couple of minutes.

A good race, I enjoyed!