Today was our clubs Handicap race. It was meant to be 9km but all of our GPS's said it was 8.83km.....close enough.
This is a great race as it gives the slower runners/walkers a chance to come first and win an event. If the handicap is done right it will have us all crossing the line in quick succession and possibly catching some of the slower ones.
Today the weather was perfect! With spring only really just starting and the snow fall last weekend you would expect it to be nippy but not today. Clear blue sky with sun and would have been a good 15 degs....Magic!!!
There had been some grumblings between the clubs about a few of our walkers that dont...basically they creep. So us racewalkers arranged for the local c grade judges to come and make them selves seen on the course. This worked a treat, the creepers still creeped but not nearly as bad as they normally do....at least this time they still looked like walkers and not slow runners!!!
I was to start off 22 mins after the first person...so I went out and had a good warm up and stetch. I was handicapped on my time in wellington and the was my first "walk" back with the club so I was being watched by all.
In my mind I had decided that if the track was 9 km and I did 54min or less...I would be really pleased with that. Well today I aced it with a time of 51:21 I am totally thrilled....but why couldn't I pull that one out in Wellington?? It just goes to show that things around you effect you more than you can realise. That gave me an avg pace of 5:49 and my coach had wanted me to do 5:53 so needless to say my coach is very happy with me....and yes...my training just got harder.
My hubby who had planned to jog it today ended up as the clock holder and was there to cheer me on when I finished. What a perfect way to finish a race.
5 comments:
Wow, what a great time! If you were that much faster than at Wellington does that mean that you won the race?
No I didn't win the race...one of the normally slower walkers got it...and it was great for them. But I did manage to catch 90% of them.
I love those sorts of races. Our club has a 5k uphill race for the walkers and a 14k road race for the runners that are done in exactly the same way. Have done both races, including the 'run' as both a runner and a walker. It always gets exciting as everyone bunches up near the finish.
Way to go!!! What a speedy time!!! Sorry that Wellington was a disappointment; however, you really shone here :). Great job on your training and on persevering through tough times.
I have never done a handicapped race, I guess it makes the slower ones feel more a part of the race as everyone is expected to finish in about the same time frame. Great work beating your projected pace by a LOT!
and, btw, thanks for your encouragement!
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