A superb venue at the Worcester Warriors Rugby ground at Sixways just off the M5 but from there things got worse. I did christen a new pair of running shoes so at least their baptism got them to know the distance. They survived so well done you two.
300 runners took part-1000 in the half and 300 in the full. This was my 15th race this year and every one seems to have been accompanied by vicious head on winds and today was no exception and of course plenty of hills.
Lap 1 was OK but hilly and very windy so 2.28 seemed all right. But the cut off point for Lap 2 was at 11 miles and there were just 3 of us together at this point. But lap 2 differed from lap one as a 5 mile loop was put in and that had 5 major hills and of course that tough wind. For the next 15 miles there were only about 6 of us chugging round getting slower and slower by the minute and lots of walking up the hills and little talking.
Eventually we hit 24 miles but what did we find? A hill and head on wind to 25, then a gentle jog down the canal tow path to the very empty finish area-except for Dave Goodwin and Anne-Marie who hung around after their halves to welcome me in. Many thanks folks.
So medal, T shirt, bananas and the usual photos rounded off as tough an event for ages but that’s 449 fulls done.
Roll on Regency 10k and London (at least this is flat).
Massey time:
Dave Phillips: 5hrs 42 mins
Race report by Dave Phillips