Rainton 10k

  You can't beat a lovely sunny day but if you add sun and race together it equates to hard bloody work and that is exactly how it felt today. I thought for a brief moment just before the start about setting off steadily and trying to build on that seeing as I had plenty of competition today at the Rainton 10k. I say brief but it was more of a quick flash because soon as the race started I called the engine room for full steam ahead, by the time I reached the mile marker I had slipped into 3rd place behind Burrett of Leeds City AC in 1st and Aiskew running for Newton Aycliffe in 2nd and by god I knew then that I had made life extremely hard for myself once again. Approaching the two mile marker fellow club runner Vic Brudenell also running for  North York Moors came past me and to be honest there was little I could of done to counteract the move as I was more interested in trying to get my temperature back down below the red zone. After a further 1/2 mile I managed to put a stop to Brudenell pulling away and by 4 miles we were both gaining ground on Aiskew and it wasn't long before Brudenell caught Aiskew, I thought that Aiskew must be overheating and it wouldn't be long before I would wrestle that 3rd position off him. For a full mile I battled away but up ahead Aiskew had managed to up his pace to match Brundenell's  so  I found myself working hard with the gap between myself and them staying the same. The last mile is cross country and I'm sure I made some time back up on them in that section so obviously no problems with the ankle what so ever, and with 1/2 mile to go young Aiskew put in a late surge to secure 2nd place. Mike Burrett took 1st, Vic Brudenell 3rd , Myself 4th and Dean Moore also of North York Moors not far behind me ensured victory in the team competition. The three of us also took the team prize at the recent Redcar Half Marathon so as far as team competition goes I have never had it so good.
   I can't see myself improving much over the next few months most likely due to the amount of pre-season training I missed, I enjoy the racing and I'm happy to battle for any position I can get my hands on so the training that is required to run faster will just have to wait until winter.