Lincoln 10k 2015 race report

I counted up how many years I'd been running this race on the way to the start and was surprised to find that today would make it raceday 7. Today, again, was a really nice spring day and perfect for running for a race.

Having not competed over the 10k distance since last summer I didn't have much of an idea how things would go today and I had been feeling that I was not quite there in terms of fitness. Still, I was excited, none the less, when I lined up in the sub 45 pen wearing my Lincoln &District Runners race vest for the 11am start.

New organisers for this year too - the mob who organise the Jane Tomlinson ones taking over. apart from the pathetic toileting arrangements which saw the removal of the stand up lorries that had been used in previous years, everything else ran like clockwork and was impressive.

Race itself then, busy first mile as expected, a few muppets started in the wrong pens, which doesn't help when you are being funnelled into a roundabout, but once past the 1km marker on Longdales Road, it gets easier and your lines are easier to pick out. Didn't feel that I had red lined at all in the first mile and was very pleased to see a solid 6.46 flash up on the Garmin.

Managed to consolidate this with two more sub 7 minute miles to reach the halfway point in good order. Then I saw a club mate a good 100m ahead, and the next two miles I had a bit of a carrot to chase to keep things interesting and to keep my mind off the effort I was putting in. Fourth mile sub 7, fifth mile which included catching and overtaking was the slowest of the day at 7.07.

The course had to be changed this year due to works taking place at the Castle, and this meant that an extra little loop had to be added to make the course 10k. As the looped around the Ermine estate, I kept thinking that the course must be long, but actually it was spot on.

That last mile was a straight effort along Nettleham Road and although it was long it was never boring as I was keeping pace with people that I thought would have comfortably beaten me.  Different finish this year as it was in the shadow of the Cathedral.

A nice medal, a rubbish T shirt, a PB, and a blister are mementos of my 7th Lincoln 10k.