S is for Southside, Sweet Lovin' and Sub-17:30

Many races have a story to tell. As Clitheroe proved last week though, not many work out exactly how you wanted them too. Fewer still prove to be those occasions when you stop and pause every 5 minutes for the rest of the day and think, "That just happened". Tonight would turn out to be one of those special races but I had little inkling of this as I crossed the Runcorn bridge to reach the southside of Frodsham followed by Kingsley for the ever popular Mid Cheshire 5k now incorporating the England Athletics championship race. I was directed to a car parking space in the field near the start line but couldn't help but notice how menacing the MOOS were from the farmyard opposite; let's just say that directed my warmup to the area near the portaloos for a few chances to walk, jog, do some dynamic movements and, of course, let off a bit of steam. The music system was booted up around 6:45 to play a few mellow tunes, not exactly revving us up into race mode, before the voice over man got into his rhythm to announce the ten minute to go mark; excitement was building and tension was mounting as it was a perfect evening for a fast time with the course layout lending itself to two rounds of tailwind and just one headwind on the back straight. Luckily I knew this having driven round the course yesterday en route to work (how happy you must all be that I never chose to move to Frodsham like I suggested a couple of years ago) and after the organisers ordered the elites back behind the start line, the countdown from five began then the horn went off and we were underway.

The first kilometre is all slightly downhill, just like at Wilmslow last December. I took 19 seconds from the starting horn to cross the start line but at least I was well up to speed for my PB hunt and as such I reached the 1km point in 3:23. A few juniors runners starting doing a JP at this stage; namely they did some STRAVAIZATION up to the left hand turn then pulled over completely out of breath! Sure enough I was feeling it too even this early and the overly enthusiastic start plus the slight incline to the highest point of the course had my 2km time at just over seven minutes. This caused my thought pattern to drift somewhat on the narrow road between the 2 and 3km points as I struggled to pull away from a man from a local running club but upon seeing the 3km board with me still just inside 10:30 I knew the PB was still on; just had to beat 7:30 or so over the final two kilometres I mean how hard could it be? Very hard actually, as I didn't exactly fly down the descent after the next left hander but upon reaching the final tight turn the jukebox had clearly warmed up properly and was playing that track we'll still be hearing on club classics 20 years from now, Sigala's Sweet Lovin'. Now if that isn't the definition of "setting the stage" I don't know what is; there was now only 1000 metres to go with my watch now showing 14:03 so with the chance of a sub-17:30 now very much alive thanks to our reprise of the first kilometre I thought of one thing only: YOLO! That's right, I opened up the throttle and went for it well before the 400m board despite everything getting a bit blurry and with 200m left the crowd was going absolutely nuts as their favourites hammered it in the dash for the line. By now everyone was sprinting like true A.C. runners so there was slim pickings when it came to nabbing extra positions but I threw everything at the line and stopped the watch having demolished my 2014 Ellesmere Port time, from 18:03 my 5k PB had come down to 17:21, a gain of 42 seconds!

After catching my breath and my senses I slowly leaned my left arm out for a battle of water and a miniature fruit/whole grain bar, the sort you find in many health food shops, before jogging back to the car park with Tony and his protégés from Liverpool Harriers. What was particularly pleasing to see was the encouragement he and his prize pupils were giving the runners who were unable to even break 30 minutes; proof if ever it were needed that there is a difference between being elite (as the team in yellow are, their best finisher did a 14:19!) and being elitist. Well in Tony. I put the Asics Hyperspeed 6's in the boot before driving off to the Red Bull pub down the road where, wouldn't you have guessed it, some local runners had already got to the bar ahead of me! So I joined them in downing a pint of Weetwood real ale (officially a bitter but it tastes similar to some American IPA's) and a pack of Pipers Chorizo crisps while discussing bikes and multi sport; one was particularly interested as her husband has been a member of Chester Tri in the past and let's be honest, it's not that far to come over the Runcorn bridge to St Helens is it? It made for a very enjoyable half hour before I headed back to the car and eased into the drive home under the bright lights of the Weston Point Expressway having completed the fastest race of my life. What next, a marathon?

Now for the results, powered by Weetwood Real Ale:

Distance: 5km
Time: 17:21
Winner: Ben Connor, Derby AC, 14:00
JP Juniors: 3 all of whom pulled off before halfway
YOLO distance: At least 800 metres maybe even the whole last kilometre
Post Race Social Segment: 10/10 (Beer, bikes and banter, what more could you want)

REJECT OF THE RACE: Cows
(Not least because they sounded more menacing than a pack of wild boars)

Time to get some shut eye before work tomorrow. Think I'll give the early morning coffee run a miss somehow. But good luck to everyone racing the ETU Duathlon in Soria and go smash the 312/225/167 in Mallorca if you're over there, if I can do a sub-17:30 5k then sub-12 for 200 miles is all yours for the taking!