Valentine's day was the date for the inaugural Cupid's 10k dash. Irishfit.com organised this event in the Phoenix park. It followed the same route as the Aware 10k so it would be test of progress of any from December.
It began at 10am and I made sure I was at the very front so as to ensure a clean getaway. I reckon there were about five hundred participants. I aimed to pass the first mile in 06:20, nine seconds faster than the Aware 10k. The first mile passed in 06:21 and I quickly found myself in a group of about five runners with the leading pack of four in front of us about fifty metres ahead.
Mile two 06:22, mile three in 06:14. I was feeling strong and was feeling confident of breaking the forty minute barrier. At this point the two leading women and the leading group of men disappeared. Mile four 06:20. Mile five, which is where you first encounter the hills as you move along military road, passed in 06:26. I was very happy with this and as I approached the crest I put the hammer down and glided over the top and overtook the four runners I had been with for most the the previous four to five miles. At this point you move down hill for a couple of hundred yards and turn left onto Kyber road, where it is up hill for most of a mile. Here one of the runners I passed half a mile back overtook me; drew level and we ran together for about 400 metres. I felt strong and pushed on, leaving him behind.
For the previous five mile I could see the second woman in the distance and was slowly reeling her in but there were not enough miles to left to catch her. Mile six passed in 06:33 and the last kilmoetre is a nice gentle negative gradient where I pushed on and passed another few runners. I crossed the line in 39:35, a new PB and my first sub forty 10k. No results up yet but I might just have come in the top twenty.
