Cheltenham 10K

by Anthony Bailey

Took the lead at the start with 2 others and pulled clear of the race for a first mile of 5:18 then the winner and myself left the 3rd guy and headed up the hill towards the grand stand for a second mile of 5:40. A sudden surge from the front left me trailing with the onset of a stitch and 4 miles left. I eased off and settled to a pace I could finish the rest of the raced at. At the end of the first lap of the race course and on the way up to the out and back section on the exit road to southam lane I’d dropped back to 3rd and then 4th by the turn. With 5th place closing fast, I’d recovered enough from the early pace to speed up and put in a fast finish. With 2 miles left I was keeping the gap back to 5th place. Entering the race course for the last circuit I gave it everything to try and catch 3rd with a strong head wind and the drag up to the grandstand I was gaining on 3rd but not fast enough so I eased off and cruised to line with 5th place only a few second behind.

Second sub 6-minute mile race this year. Just need to work on doing a negative spit and keep it under control at the start rather than race away and get gradually slower.