The last few months have been pretty quiet for me on the racing front. Way back in July and August, I ran the Pawlett Plod and the Wessex 10k, posting my third and fourth fastest 10k times. I had then hoped to run the Taunton 10k to set a new 10k PB. Unfortunately, I basically didn’t bother to put in the hard yards in training, and didn’t run Taunton at all. Since then, my training has continued to be inconsistent until a few weeks ago. And, although I have managed to improve my consistency, I am still lower on mileage than I would like to be.

All that said and considered, the Wellington Monument Race was never going to be a PB attempt. It starts in Hemyock, roughly 128 metres above sea-level, and then climbs and climbs to Wellington Monument, the world’s tallest three-sided obelisk, about 272 metres above sea-level. Then we turn around, and go all the way back down (and up, a little). The monument is having some work done at the moment, so isn’t quite as picturesque as usual – this also had a slight knock-on effort on the race distance.

For some reason (probably mostly because it isn’t in the Somerset Series), this is a race that I’ve never done before, even though it is under half an hour from home. In fact, although Wellington Monument is in Somerset, Hemyock is in Devon – thankfully I wasn’t asked for my passport though. (They are funny, thems Devon folk.)

Pre-race

A local race meant a bit of a lie-in, although only until 8 am, as the race was a 10 am start. Originally Lolly was going to take Lani down to Exeter for junior parkrun, but Lani sensibly decided to have a morning off: they will be plenty of opportunities to parkrun over the next week or so! Despite the whole family now being free, I travelled down alone, and found a parking space in the village, just under half a mile from the start.

After making sure I had everything I needed from the car, and nothing much that I didn’t, I headed over to Hemyock Primary School, which hosted the race. It was all pretty easy and straightforward: number collected, pre-race poo, number pinned onto vest, warm-up run, hoodie stashed, jog to the start. During the jog to the start, I realised that I was a bit warm with a long-sleeve tee under my race vest, and found a fellow RFRC member who was spectating to abandon it with.

The race

Compared to most of the races I do, this one attracted a fast field. I had noticed this when I checked the entry list the evening before, but it became even more obvious when I was waiting at the start. He’s quicker than me, he’s quicker than me, he’s definitely quicker than me… But this was never about time or position – for once I was just racing for the… uhmmm, fun(?)… of it.

The race started on a road junction about quarter of a mile away from the school, and then dropped down through the village… Ah, ‘dropped down’. In an out-and-back. Bummer dude. I had done minimal homework on this race – as far as I was aware it was an out-and-back in which the first half was uphill, and the second half downhill. With a short muddy stretch at the top around the Monument. Maybe I should have done more research – it was clearly a little more nuanced.

I mostly focused on trying not to run too fast, before the hill started. But then… blimey. Again, a lack of research meant that I didn’t realise that the first climb out out of Hemyock was the toughest part of the whole race. I survived that climb by using a common strategy: If no one else I can see is walking, then I don’t need to walk either… Around a mile and a half in, the course then descended gently for half a mile. Oh blimey, not again! Andy, who I used to run with regularly, was marshalling at this point and shouted some encouragement at me, but I was so zoned in on the run, and the effort, that I didn’t really notice who it was until it was too late to respond!

The course climbed again after that short descent, but the hill was less vicious now, and was softened somewhat by the knowledge that there was less than a mile of ‘up’ left. A left turn was coned off and very well marshalled, and then we crossed the road into a muddy car park to make the last bit of the ascent to the monument. In all honesty, by this stage it was barely a climb at all. Because of the renovation work on the monument, we just rounded some cones and a marshal at the top, and then it was just back again!

The descent was relatively straightforward. On the top part of the hill, it was gentle enough to encourage without being too dramatic. The half-mile ‘climb’ where Andy was marshalling didn’t feel too bad; it was mostly just flat, rather than a hill either way. I even managed to thank him this time around, and apologise for not doing so on the way up!

After Andy’s marshalling spot though was the steep drop; the part that had been so horrible on the way up. I hoped that my downhill running would help me here, but in all honesty, the field was so spread by this point that it didn’t really make much difference. I went past one chap who looked like he was struggling with something, and I closed in on another runner, but as soon as the course levelled off I stopped gaining on him.

For me, this last part was the toughest of the whole race. Thankfully, someone had told me beforehand that the finish was at the school, and thus that extra quarter of a mile beyond the start line. It was a slog back up through the village, with more of a climb up to the school itself. In reality, it should have faded into insignificance in comparison to the main climb we had endured earlier in the race. But that isn’t how running works.

Still, despite having no one around me, I think I managed to push myself well enough to the finish. I did feel that the marshalling, which was so good all the way around the course, could have done with being a bit clearer, and more present, for that final climb. I naturally found myself on the pavement, only to be shouted at very late on that I needed to move onto the road, which left me dodging through a narrow gap between parked cars to do so. But that was probably just me.

I didn’t look at my watch when I crossed the finish line. In fact, I didn’t check my time until a few hours after the race. As I said, it wasn’t really that sort of race for me. However, I’m pretty chuffed with a 43:44. Roughly speaking, I ran 23:34 for the first half of the race and 20:10 for the second half. Which is pretty good, but also slightly disappointing that I didn’t manage to run sub-20 for the predominantly downhill 5k…

On the other hand, using Strava’s ‘grade-adjusted pace’, my 43:44 is equivalent to a 41:42 on a flat course, which would have been a PB, so, you know. Not so bad. In a fortnight I have the Stoke Stampede, which I ran way back in December 2013, my first ever sub-50 minute 10k. There would be a nice symmetry to it being my first sub-40, but there is no way I’m in that sort of form. But maybe, just maybe, I can get the PB I’m craving?

Post race

Immediately after the race, I had a chat in the school hall with Nadine, and then collected my cider from Emma. I ambled back through the village towards my car, but stopped to have a lengthy chinwag with Simon, before eventually I got too cold, and headed to my car. Did I mentioned that this race was very local, and so I knew a lot of the volunteers? The support, not just from those I knew, was exceptional throughout the race.

On my drive home, I stopped off for a foot-long Chicken Pizziola from Subway… because Subway is good post-race ‘recovery’ food.

• Did I enjoy this race? Sort of. I mean, no. But yes.
• Would I do this race again? Yes, probably.
• What’s next? Race-wise, the Stoke Stampede on 5 January 2020, but there’s a Christmas Day parkrun and two New Years’ Day parkruns before then…