Herts 10k road race in Harpenden.
TL;DR
Finished in 52:33 with really muddy sections in the fields and a decent climb about 4km in.
Position 731 from 2937 runners
Race Day
Early wake up and porridge for breakfast with a cup of coffee.
Arrived at Harpenden about 08:45 and a quick walk to the research station hosting the event.
Car thermometer went down to 1C on the way there and there was ice on cars and on the grass at the venue.
Followed along with the warm provided by Fitness First at the venue, then into the 50-55 min pen (grouping on expected finish time).
Lots of people crowding in the sub-45 and 45-50min pens, who obviously weren’t likely to be anywhere near those times. So still lots of congestion for the first 3-4km.
Big hill near the golf course at about 4km thinned the field out considerably.
Ran in a technical shirt with the supplied cotton t-shirt over the top. Never do this again. The non-breathable and dual layers made me overheat on sections where there was little breeze.
Couple of sections running through the fields on the second half were very muddy. Saw a couple of people who had come a cropper and were with the medics/marshals. This section was treacherous in places and did slow me down but navigated it without any real issues.
Final kilometre dragged a little but pushed through it and finished in 52:32 by my watch, still waiting for official timing.