Started with Leeds parkrun at 9am. As I was running again in the afternoon I couldn't decide on a plan (and its always nice to have some sort of target for a run), so in the end decided to run with Pamela. Target was 27 minutes and we finished just outside that in 27:17. Not bad.
I haven't done the Leeds Golden mile before, or in fact run a mile on the track, so was looking forward to the race, but was very unsure how to play it, other than trying to run even splits.
My 'heat' was at 5:10, so I turned up about 4:30 to register and check things out.
Quite a few park runners taking part, including James who was in my heat and Roy who went in the heat before. Roy was clearly in the wrong heat as he lead from the whistle and romped home in clear first place to claim his bottle of wine! Tough running a fast race from the front though.
James was also to win our heat, taking the lead on lap three and holding on to his lead to the finish line. The first two laps were very evenly paced and I was with the main group, strung out in a line at the end of lap one but started to slip off the back a bit on lap two. The lead group was still within touching distance though buts I was conscious of making sure I had enough in my legs to finish!
If anything, I probably slipped back too much on lap two, but increased the work rate on lap three which actually felt quite good and, on the bell (though not sure I actually heard it!), I decided to put my foot down and run the last lap as hard as I could. Again, 400 metres of flat out running was new territory and I wasn't sure if I could keep motoring the full distance, but as I started to pass people in the back straight it helped to keep up the motivation and I eventually moved up into fourth place but had left it too late to catch second and third.
But, very happy with my time of 5 minutes and 20 seconds, which is a new mile PB by 10 seconds. James' winning time was 5:17. Three seconds might not sound a lot, but on the track, at speed, the distance is significant, a very healthy winning margin.
All in all then, a very enjoyable day out, which also included brunch at Betty's at Harlow Carr and a brief stroll around the gardens in between the two races. What could be better?!
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