Picked a good spot with about 100 people ahead of me at the starting line. Crowded conditions after the starting gun but found clear going pretty quickly. Tried to average a 4 min/km pace through the first 5k as I was trying to go sub 20 minutes for the split. Started off good, paced seemed ok at beginning but I noticed that my breathing was off for some reason. Kept pace until about the 4k mark and faded a bit on a slight rise that seemed to go on far too long. Saw that I was losing pace for my sub 20 5k and realized that I wouldn't have enough time to make it up as the rise ended with only about half a kilometer to go. 5k mark went by so I just started to think of my strategy to get a decent 10k time. Struggled through the next couple of kilometers and settled into a moderate pace. Started to feel better around the 7k mark and picked it up a bit until near 9.5k where I managed to kick it up a notch to make it through the finish line.

Pacing!!! Once again I feel that I had a better race in me if I could only learn to pace better. Some hill training and more base mileage would also help.

Walked for a few minutes after the race and headed back inside for a drink and some food.


The usual suspects, training, pacing.


A good race with a good course and lots of volunteers. This race has gone on for more than 20 years, they must be doing something right. Also like the fact that it is so late in the season.