Maidenhead Easter 10

It's nearly a week ago that I ran the Maidenhead Easter 10 Mile race. Last year I ran it with Alison who proved to be an excellent pacer, running every mile at the same speed. This year I was on my own but the training had gone well so I was confident of a (for me) reasonable time. The weather was sunny, starting off cool but very warm for the last few miles.

Although, despite that early confidence, I actually felt quite ill while warming up on my own just before the start. But once we were under way, I settled down and kept to around a 9 minute 35 second pace. It was all going well until miles 8 to 9 when I slowed down to over 10 minutes. But I guess everyone did as it was mainly a gradual slope uphill.

However, as soon as I passed the nine mile marker and turned back onto the estate road into the business park, I felt really good. Actually too good as I sped up and ran the last mile well under 9 minutes, far to fast for my age. I enjoyed the sprint at the end but not afterwards. My time was just over 1 hour 35 minutes, over 3 minutes faster than last year. Alison met me at the finish with a very welcome piece of fruit cake from the cafe.

As last year, we made our way to John Lewis in High Wycombe. The department store was packed with Good Friday shoppers but all we needed was a cup of tea and something to eat in the cafe. And that was perfect. No medal this year, but a USB stick on a ribbon. What's that all about?