Glastonbury | Running in Series

This year Ben and I have decided that we both want to do the Somerset Series (ie 8 qualifying races), which means that at least one of us has to do pretty much every race (factoring in the ones we can’t do). I did the Babcary MT race back in February (and failed to blog about it), and my next outing was scheduled as what is officially known as the Round the Tor 10k. Or Glastonbury 10k as pretty much everyone calls it.

I ran this race back in 2015 and really enjoyed it, helped by the fact that it was the first time I went under an hour for 10k. This year I wasn’t too sure how it would go. A recent parkrun PB indicated that my form was good, but my training was inconsistent to non-existent. Anytime I was asked what I was aiming for, I said it was a benchmark run. Which it should have been. Except, of course, when you’ve set a massive landmark PB at a course once, you kind of want to do it again.

In the morning we set off early, so that we could go to Cheddar junior parkrun on the way. It was a lovely little event, and worked perfectly in terms of timing. I also got a little bit of sprinting practice in when little man decided to run away from my marshal point. After the event finished, we took the short drive to Glastonbury and headed to the designated race parking, where we were able to park easily.

The atmosphere before the race is a bit crazy, with all the other distance events going on at the same time. My prep took the form of: collect number, get Ben to put number on vest, get Ben to re-position number, go to toilet (no queue!), take Lani to toilet (big queue!), panic visit shop to buy pre-race snack. Seamless. I headed over to the start area with 10 minutes to go, and managed a little warm up before chatting with club mates. I was asked again what time I was aiming for. I replied that if it went well then hopefully about 55 minutes, but there was also a good chance of me collapsing at around 5 miles.

The race brief was clear and detailed, talking about potholes we should expect for approximately half the course. Amusingly they couldn’t find the starting hooter, so it was a very muted start. But as it’s a chip to chip race this wasn’t much of a problem. The first task was always going to be getting into the right position – I had no idea where in the line up I needed to be, and the mass of Millfield students always adds the extra random factor.

My entire race plan was pretty simple: Aim to do the first mile in 9 minutes and go from there. I felt pretty strong heading down past the town hall (who wouldn’t on a downhill start), and was excited heading up the high street knowing my family was at the top ready to cheer me. Lani put her hand out to give me a high five, and as a result ended up giving them to several other runners as well.

Heading along the main road I felt pretty good, and tried to settle into some form of rhythm. My watch beeped for one mile sooner than I expected – in fact 20 seconds earlier than my target. This gave me a bit of confidence to push on, although I was wary that my short training runs could lead me to burn out too soon. We reached the next milestone I was looking for – the out and back section down a side road.

Glad to have that ticked off, the next target was moving from the main road to the back roads. Which coincidentally happens just before the end of mile 2. I always keep my watch in mile laps, whatever I’m running, and in a 10k it’s great because it means you get km signs and mile beeps and so there’s always another marker. The promised potholes and rugged edges were clear to see, as were the undulations I remembered this course for. But I managed to keep going at a reasonably even pace.

The water station was at the top of a hill, shortly before 5k. As my fingers touched the water cup, the girl handing it to me let go. So I got one leg absolutely drenched, and a tiny sip of water. This worried me slightly, but I knew there was another water station later if I was struggling.

And so we reached the 5k line, and for the first time I checked my watch against the course marking (because, easy calculation). It hadn’t even got to 27 minutes yet. That calculation was pretty easy then. If I managed to maintain a watch pace of around 8:30 then I would be well under 55 minutes.

I felt pretty good, and so despite the lack of training I was pretty confident I could do it. Until somewhere in mile 4, when I remembered the horrible heartbreak hill that would be greeting us near the end. Which somehow had been removed from all my memories of the course. Now I see why Ben reads his old race reports before he heads out!

Still, the second water station treated me much better (decent sip and splash over face), helped as well by the cheers surrounding it. On the nice gradual downhill that follows I was clearly feeling more tired, but not so much that I wavered from my 8:30ish average. As the surroundings changed to houses I mentally prepared myself for what was to come.

The hill did not disappoint, with most people round me slowing to a walk. I was pretty pig-headed by this stage though, and determined to get through it. My pace clearly did slow, but not beyond control. I reached the top feeling pretty happy, but also out of breath and realising that I needed to recover quickly if I wanted to make anything of the finish. And right at this point was one of the race photographers, just to help the situation!

But then came the moment I was waiting for, as we rounded the corner and saw the downhill stretch towards the finish. It’s fair to say I sped up a bit at this point, in some sort of desperate attempt to put the final icing on my perfect race cake. Just as the road levels of (and in fact starts to go up a little), I saw my family cheering at the side. I had nothing left to be able to move over to give Lani a high five (for which I apologised after), and just about managed a wave as I carried on to the line.

Like I said, I told everyone who asked me that this was a benchmark race. But I clearly wanted a course PB (previously 59:13), and my overall 10k PB of 55:22 looked in touching distance based on my parkrun form. So you might be able to imagine how it felt crossing the line in 53:27. Ben later admitted to being completely surprised at seeing my distinctive running gear appear so early (good job I wear Tikiboos or he might have missed me!).

It’s hard to fault the Glastonbury 10k as a race. Medal, technical t-shirt (if you sign up before cut off), free race photos, and great organisation. Oh and a course that is interesting but entirely manageable. Definitely one I’ll consider in future, although I’ve set my bar pretty high by crushing my PB both times I’ve run it so far!

And now I’m basking in the glow of being undeniably in the best running shape I’ve ever been in. Finally I can well and truly stop running in the shadow of 2015. I can’t bask for too long though – I’ve got another race at the end of the month!

First sub-60 and first sub-55. Still not the most attractive finish photo.

I love the summer, because it’s when all the winter’s training comes to fruition in what can be a pretty non-stop string of short distance races. If course, the fact that I keep getting injured and missing winter training is something of a spanner in the works, but it’s still fun to be out racing!

After the first race of the Yeovilton 5k Series, in which I moderately exceeded my expectations, I had the Glastonbury 10k. This is one that Lolly raced (in my place) last year, when I had a further setback. I was pretty excited to be running it this year, but I knew that it wasn’t the flattest route. In fact, plenty of people who did it last year had been moaning no end about the hill at the end.

Looking bizarrely fresh at 9.5 km.

If I’m being honest, I didn’t really see what all the fuss was about; I’d stood at the top of that hill, and yes, it was steep, but it was also pretty short – surely you could just power through it? Of course, that fact that it was in the last kilometre of the race was less than ideal. But anyway, more on that later.

Given the… undulating nature of the course, and the fact that my training ‘long’ runs had only just hit 7 miles, I wasn’t particularly optimistic of a fast time, and was aiming to go sub-45, with the expectation that it might be tough to achieve. (My PB is about 42:22, for reference.)

The start pen was pretty well organised (Lolly tells me that this was NOT the case last year), but it was a little bizarre. There were two areas: the front was reserved for club runners, and the rear area for unaffliated runners – irrespective of pace. This worked out reasonably well for me, but it did mean that I ended up a little bit too far forward, and unsurprisingly (and characteristically) I flew off far too fast.

The first kilometre was predominantly uphill, going up the high street buoyed on by the big crowds. I’m not joking either – there were LOTS of people. The run coincided with the Beltane celebrations this year, and so the place was packed. I’ve never run with such loud support before, and to be honest, it was a little intimidating. Less intimidating was the sight of Lolly and Lani at the top of the high street, right where I was expecting them. It always makes me smile when Lani notices me running (she doesn’t always!) The crowds, and my position a bit too far forwards meant that I ran a 4:11 first kilometre, and then was even faster for the second (admittedly downhill) kilometre, 4:05.

That first hill is the worst of the race, but the course continues to undulate throughout. Personally, I enjoyed this – I tend to find completely flat courses a bit of a slog, and like the varying effort that an undulating course allows. Through these middle kilometres I averaged about 4:23. I spent most of this section worrying that I’d had gone off too fast, and continued to go too fast. I was well inside my 45-minute target, and although the pace felt reasonable, I was worried that I was just going to hit a cliff at around 8 kilometres, and struggle home for the last couple, particularly with the hill.

I was wrong. The eighth and ninth kilometres were both relatively easy downhills, and although I was starting to worry about the prospect of the hill, my pace increased accordingly to 4:14 for each. The final kilometre began with a little bit more descent, but then the hill loomed large ahead of us.

Definitely not so fresh looking in the final sprint.

I’m a little unusual – I love hills. As soon as I saw the hill, I kicked my pace on, and passed two runners that I’d been following for a while before we hit the hill. At the bottom, there was a sign – I can’t remember the exact wording, but it was essentially “high five for hill power”. I did – I was willing to take anything on offer! I powered up the hill. From the bottom you could see the turn at the top, so I was happy to put my all into it.

It was fine. I won’t say it was easy – I felt pretty nauseous at the top from the effort, but it was fine. From the top of the hill, the course turns left down hill, and I just let gravity help me down. It might have been more efficient to put less effort into the hill, for more effort down the hill, but meh.

Although I’d known for a while that I was going to be well under 45 minutes, I was pleasantly surprised to see 43:20 on my watch – for an undulating course early during my training, that was far closer to my PB than I was expecting!

I really enjoyed this race, and it was good to have a few club mates around for it as well. Unfortunately, we weren’t organised enough to get a proper group photo, as we all seemed to be in different places. Lolly and Lani were near the end to cheer me in again, but unfortunately I didn’t notice them in the large crowds. I have to say a big THANK YOU to Lolly for her support during this race, which as I understand, mostly involved standing in the toilet queue with Lani, who kept declaring that she needed a wee. Definitely a runner in training!

Next up… Yeovilton 5k and the Wambrook Waddle

Running in Series

Tag Archives: Glastonbury

Round the Tor 10k: 2019 race report

Round the Tor 10k: race review