On 4th February I raced the Mad Dog 10k in Southport. This was my first time running this race after going down sick on race day in 2018 and missing out.

I was using this race as a hard threshold effort as part of my training block for the Boston and London Marathons in April and it was a good job I wasn’t going all out for a PB as the weather for race day was challenging, to say the least. We had to endure a 40mph headwind for the first 3 miles before we turned off the seafront, then had that same tailwind for the second half of the race. So it was very much a race of two halves.

I had signed up to run the 10k and my 8yr old daughter was running in the Crazy Pups fun run beforehand. This would be her 3rd proper race after starting with the Mow Cop Killer Mile Kids race in May last year. It appears she has my luck with race day weather.

Splits: 6:35, 6:47, 6:48, 6:01, 5:57, 5:49, 5:52

As I said above, the weather was going to be shocking for these first 3 miles, and boy did it deliver. Essentially, the first 3 miles are along the seafront before turning in land for a mile then back on the seafront running back to the start/finish. The wind was in our faces for the first 3 miles, it was brutal. I was running at marathon and really having to push to hold that pace, with a heart rate akin to a hard 10k effort.

I was caught between the lead pack and the chase group, being out by myself in those conditions was not a good idea so rather than try to catch the faster group I dropped back to run with a group of 7 runners. Each took turns to lead the group and the rest fell in line behind to get some shelter from the wind.

One by one they dropped off and I found myself picking off others who were dropping off the lead group and struggling through the wind by themselves.

Finally, I turned off the coast road and it was like someone had hit mute on the TV. The noise of the wind blowing in my ears and face suddenly stopped, and the resistance was lifted. I could literally feel myself push forward as the headwind stopped.

I went through the 5k mark in 21:12. Almost 4mins off my 5k PB time, I know, its a 10k race so I won’t be setting 5k PB’s here but hopefully, that puts the wind into perspective a little. Or maybe the 18:16 I run the second 5k with the tailwind also highlights the wind effect.

So yes, it’s a cliche but it really was a race of two halves. The second half felt like a half marathon effort I’d say, although my mile splits were under 10k PB pace, and each passing mile faster than the last.

I was running with the 3rd placed lady, well I say with, I was trying my best to hang on to her, she was flying! We were picking off a few runners but for the most part, I spent the last 3 miles chasing her which added to the fun of being pushed along by that tailwind.

Although the finish time of 39:27 is my slowest in a long time, that doesn’t tell the story of this race. As I have said, it was very much weather-affected and I run the biggest negative split I am likely to ever run thanks to that wind. I wanted a hard threshold effort as part of the marathon training and I got that for half of the race, then the second half my heart rate was 15bpm lower than the first despite running 3mins faster.

Sometimes you can’t judge a performance on the time, but you can always use the finish position as a measure of how the race went against your peers. Today I came home in 25th place in a field of over 1,000 runners so I feel very happy and proud to have done that today.

Crazy Pups Kids Run

The Crazy Pups kids race is a 1 mile fun run for the kids, adults are allowed to run with the little ones if they need it. Sienna doesn’t need dad running along with her but always asks me to and I am enjoying these races where she does want to run with dad. It won’t be too long before she is running off down the road and running with Dad would just be slowing her down as I get older.

A bit like the full 10k run, the Crazy Pups is an out and back, you start and finish in the same place and follow the first half mile of the 10k before turning back.

Sienna really enjoyed the race and was laughing and having fun even with the wind. She enjoyed running along the marshes seeing the Geese and ducks in the water no doubt laughing at us crazy fools running in this weather.