Heaton Park Parkrun - Race Report

Heaton Park Parkrun

- Race Report

By David Simmons

It was a bit nippier on Saturday so I decided that it was time for the base layer for the first time in a race this season and as we were waiting near the start I was congratulating myself on it being a wise move. The usual pre race chit chat was rudely interrupted when someone mentioned bard codes – whoops! After reminding everyone in last week’s newsletter and again the night before to those who were running, I managed to forget my bar code – not great at Heaton Park as they have stopped noting down those fools who forget post race, so no official record of the run should there be a PB.

Anyhow, local knowledge and learning from the mistake we all made at Bramhall for the first race, we moved swiftly when the start was forming and assumed positions in the first few rows. Finally, we were off and a charge to the first corner 30 yards away – a tight 90 degree left turn. We were all safely through that and I soon saw Wesley gliding past me and away down the hill – Dave and Alan were just behind beginning to engage in their battle.

Wesley soon pulled away and established a 50 yards lead as I went through the first mile in a concerning 6:09 – I’d never gone through that mile so quickly and I was blowing hard and wasn’t sure it wasn’t going to end well. By the 2km point I was sweating and feeling way too hot – the base layer now not such a wise move! I kept pushing and maintained the gap to Wesley at 50 yards.

Through 2 miles at 5 seconds under PB pace and we reached the hill back up to the house. It’s only a ¼ mile long and I slowly began to wind Wesley back in and the gap fell to about 30 yards by the time we were level with the house. Unfortunately by that time I was pretty much spent after that fast start and as the hill continued to climb around the back of the house the gap grew again and I knew that it wasn’t going to be the day for a first victory over Wesley. With 400 yards to go, I noted that I only had 50 seconds to do it in for a PB. Not being Roger Black (showing my age there), I realised that the PB game was up (the forgotten bar code didn’t matter now) and I eased back crossing the line in 20:19.

Crossing the line I remembered how much I hated 5k runs – too short and too fast; albeit I’m not fast enough so unfortunately more practice is required!

Shortly after I finished, Alan crossed the line, winning his duel with Dave. Our finishing times and overall positions were:

1. Wesley Mort – 20:01 – 23rd – 20 points

2. Dave Simmons – 20:18 – 28th – 18 points

3. Alan Budenberg – 22:25 – 62nd – 16 points

4. Dave James – 22:47 – 73rd – 14 points

A couple of action photos and the post race group photo are attached – full size ones available upon request!

Dave, Alan and my kids then adjourned to the café for a post race brew as Wesley headed off for family duties. Thanks to Wesley, Dave and Alan for joining me for a hard but enjoyable run!