35:43!
That was my official time at Chase The Moon last night and I’m absolutely delighted. It is only 24 seconds slower than my (not including track runs) 5km PB set at Dulwich parkrun in January. I’m definitely running faster than I was this time last year and I feel that if I take on an easy parkrun on a cold day I’m finally going to break the 35 minute barrier. (I also need to visit the track and see how I do there.)
I was particularly happy to find that for the first four 4km I managed to keep up with Rosemary. Rosemary was one of the first people I met at Runthrough, she is a very dedicated and consistent runner and is currently in fourth place on the parkrun most events table. When I started going to Runthrough events she was just a little bit faster than me, and I spent most races using her as a marker to make sure I was going the right way. Then I got slower and she got faster and I used to gradually watch her fade into the distance. I don’t think she was as happy as I was that I was keeping up with her, though, and in the last kilometre she taught me a lesson by pulling a Mo Farah and sprinting off leaving me for dust.
I was less pleased about the other runner who decided to stop dead right in front of me at the photo point, thus ruining my mid race photo (just look at the filthy look I am giving him in it.). He also very nearly caused a pile up and took valuable seconds off my time. Probably not twenty-four of them though.
Other than that, nothing new to report about this race which I have now done approximately fifty-nine thousand times.
7:07 