Corporate Challenge 2011

I'm on the way back to fitness, but there's work to be done. Tonight is the 5.6km Corporate Challenge.

I fully prepare. My work mates dawdle on the way there, so I run ahead to get prepared. Larry joins me at the start. I'm in the elite start (possibly due to a misquoted estimated time based on 5km rather than 5.6km) and it feels exciting to be with all the super-fast runners.

We start off and Larry zooms off. But I keep my pace. Some idiot pushes me out the way. I call him a w*nker, and it's lucky he was moving so quickly else I would have either punched him or tripped him up. I can be like that.

I probably run 25 5km races a year, and maybe 5km at least 4 times a week (on a good week!) I know what it is the correct pace. 4km to go, as I run past Buddha, I see Larry in front. I gradually reel him in. On the last 0.6km grass section I see him start to run through glue, but I never quite catch him.

In the finishing straight I put together a really good sprint. I think I hear the announcer say 26 minutes. I try to factor in how long it took me to cross the start line, but then I see the clock and it it is approaching 25 minutes. This is good. last year I did 26:20, and this year I was targeting 26:00. It's too late to catch Larry but I push harder and execute a great sprint.

I jab my watch as I cross the line. 25:10. Not bad, . I see Larry in front of me and jog to congratulate him. I grab the T-Shirt and head for the beer and BBQ, well ahead of the rest of our colleagues. I have had my burger and first beer, before anyone else I know appears.

I use my pace-calculator to normalise the time to a 5km. It says 22:20. Park run PB is 21:50. I felt really comfortable the whole race, making the most of my experience. I can go faster with some weight loss and some more intense training.

Still, a few years go I would be exhausted after running 5km. Tonight I toy with running the 10 miles home, but the call of the beer is too strong.

5.6km 25:10