 The Wilne 10k has a reputation for being flat, super fast and very popular. It attracts around 1,000 runners, with a wide range of finishing times from around 30 minutes to 90 minutes, so you're likely to always have someone to try and catch or keep up with. The race tends to incorporate the Derby and/or Midlands Championship, so attracts people competing at county or area level but on the day you can't tell that, it just feels like a normal 10k race.
Church Wilne is only a 20 minute drive down the M1 from Kimberley, takes place on closed roads and has a huge free parking area set within a pop-up race village. Just be sure to drive in via Long Eaton to avoid the road closures at the Draycott end (it's all in the PDF race leaflet they email out beforehand). I was lucky to get a lift (thanks again Wendy). The race starts at 10am but we arrived around 8:50, and had no trouble getting parked up (lots of marshals directing us). I'd opted to pick up my race number, which proved very quick and easy, they just needed my name, no barcode or ID etc. There weren't a massive number of portaloos but the queue system worked well (one queue for them all, so you didn't have to guess which would move the fastest). We dived in early to be sure of having plenty of time for a warm up. The race is on a looped course, with the start and finish set about a mile apart on the long stretch of Sawley Road, so you don't run two full loops. There are no U turns, just flowing bends, and it's almost flat, just some very slight inclines you can barely feel. There is one little climb (which you do twice) at the point the race turned back onto Sawley Road, but it's very short. When you hit the climb a second time, you're only 100m to 200m from the finish position around the corner. Sawley Road is great for warming up, closed to traffic and a good mile or so up towards Draycott and back. Tons of runners were jogging up and down the road getting ready. Always a nervy moment this. The race bibs are colour-coded for the race based on estimated finish time. In theory you're 'called' to the start according to colour, but in practice we didn't hear any announcements as we weren't in the race village. Noticing hundreds of runners walking up towards Draycott, we turned around and followed them up to the start. We couldn't see any markers suggesting where to stand based on finish times, and there were no pacers we could see, so we just counted back from the start roughly where we should be. I'd eyeballed previous year's results and knew I should be around 100 people back, about 10 rows (Stu was with me, although he was probably a few rows too far back as he's quicker than me). Once we'd squeezed into roughly the right area (trying not to look at the rapid-looking folks around us), we waited. It was a bit too warm this year, about 20 degrees, and stood among people it felt even warmer. The organisers did their usual speech which no-one but the front two rows could hear, and a minute or two later we were off. I'd set the estimated finish time on my watch, and it immediately start to tell me I was running too slowly. It was pretty busy with runners but there was enough room to easily pass people, so I tried to kick into gear a little and move through the pack. I'd based my finish time on a recent hard 5k effort, and on what my Garmin was predicting. They were both wrong it turned out! I gave it a good shot but the estimated time slipped and slipped. It was getting me down and I eyeballed the handful of people who'd dropped out and were walking with a degree of envy! I shouldn't have, of course, they were likely injured and I was flowing well enough. By the time we were half way round (the race has KM markers) I was way down on time and knew it wasn't going to be anywhere near what I wanted. Time to switch tactic. I hit the button on my watch to hide the estimated time screen and just ran as hard as I could, getting into groups to hide from the breeze. I'd a good few mini battles with people running around the same time was me, some of which I won, some I didn't! Crossing the line I was about 90 seconds down on what I'd hoped to run. I was disappointed, partly because Coach Perry has put so much effort into helping me get fitter these past couple of months. He's given me some good, challenging and interesting sessions which were really building my fitness and confidence up. I think a combination of warm weather, possibly the remnants of a cold and just bad luck meant I wasn't in the best of shape. It's given me a good kick to get going again on training though! As usual it was great to share the race with a whole bunch of KADS and a few of us got together to share our race stories and grab a photo at the end (thanks to Deborah for the pic). Back at the race village we collected our bright orange T shirts (no queues, great colour for winter training) and a snack bar. There's no medal for this race. Leaving the race in the car was easy too, although you have to drive out the other way (towards Draycott) so it's worth knowing the route back. Cheers, Jason |