I only decided to run this race after being inspired by a 24:04 result at Strathclyde parkrun on Saturday. I arrived an hour before the race, got registered and ran a couple of miles as a warm up. I started near the front of the field and soon settled into a steady pace. A sharp hill about a mile or so out took us onto the cycle track and I picked up the pace to reach the 5k turn point in 24:17.

I felt strong at this point and decided to try and go for a good time. Just after 6k, the heavens opened up and, as I tend to run better times in the rain, I wasn't complaining! We left the cycle track with just over a mile to go and I kept steady to
9k in 44:15.

I knew the last km was going to be tough as it was mostly uphill, but, I felt strong and pushed to the line in 48:53, a bit quicker than the 52:14 I recorded for the same race in 2009. I achieved a 10k PB in this race and I am wondering if I could go faster still, I will certainly try.