No Walk In The Park 5k

Following last weeks exploits at the Worksop Half Marathon, It was time to go back to Chesterfield and and have a third crack at North Derbyshire Running Clubs monthly 5k park run - ' No Walk In The Park '.

My last two attempts, in February 2010 (27.08), and then February this year (25.30) had both been very enjoyable outings, and as such, I was looking forward to this all week !

We arrived at Chesterfield Cricket Ground then at 8.45 having taken an hour for the trip, and was quickly registered in the Pavillion, I was given my race number of 40 which had been kept for me since February.

After a warm up, we all gathered for the start, and I found a fellow Netrunner in Dom Stevens to talk to. Within seconds we were given the off, 40 odd runners full of adrenaline hurtling around an opening lap of the cricket pitch. I was aware that I was definately further up the field than I had previously been and a check of the watch showed that my initial pace was through the roof. I held this as far as I could and although it dropped, it didn't drop too much as I worked very hard for the first couple of laps of the Park to maintain my position.

By the third lap though I was hanging on just a little, and by the last lap the early pace had taken its toll and I was truly marmalised. I did, however, have enough left to up the pace again for the last 300m even though I was eventually reeled in by Dom, who came past me like a whippet in the last 100m, that last burst bought me home in under 23 minutes.

I crossed the line in 22.41 which is a new PB for me, and not far behind a man, who when I first took part in this race last year, I thought I would never be as good as - there is now just less than a minute between us ! It will be one of my goals for next year for sure.

Next up for me then is a trip to the North Yorkshires Dales for a cycle sportive event next Saturday morning - http://www.colombachemoclassic.org.uk/