My good friend and running partner James Donald (right of shot) had a stern word with me before the race. 'You better be in it to win it' he told me.
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| Team Bath team prize: Guy Landon 2nd Matt Maynard 1st and James Donald 4th |
In this fantastic inaugral local race that I can highly recommend I managed to just sneak out Guy Landon (left of shot and fellow Team Bath mate) to win in 3:58. Guy pushed the pace the whole race and I tried to hang on to him thoughout despite some cramps that I tried to cover up in the last ten miles and a mild bit of hallucination of an imagined water station at the top of a very thirsty long climb.
This was the second weekend in a row that I had run side by side with Guy in a race with 'Bath Half' just the week before. We were accompanied by Martin Indge, who is a super strong and seasoned ultra runner, for 2/3rds of the way as well. I tried to make conversation when I could, without rasping for breath too much, but I don't think I had either of them fooled...
I managed to just edge Guy out in the very last 600metres on a technical steep descent which he had told me three hours earlier that 'if we are still racing at that point, it's yours, because my ankles won't have it.' I felt pleased to be able to run strongly down the rutted woodland gully after 32 miles and knew that all those long miles in the Cotswold Hills through the winter were beginning to pay off.
Guy and I relaxed and stretched out in the sun for a full half an hour before the next finisher came in. James came a few minutes after in fourth and shortly after that we had to put our cans of cider down to collect our Team Prize. It was a wonderful English scene on the Westbury cricket pitch that afternoon and it was good to be there amongst friends.
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