The Hokey Cokey

I’m in the pink this time, as opposed to being a bit blue last time. We’re talking start pen colours at the Derby 10k. This is the sub-40 start that I made sure I applied for this time, so that I get a good first 500 metres. There are only the ‘elite’ few in front of me.

Then we’re off and I can see my folks standing by the first roundabout waiting for the race to come by, in fact there’s an awful lot of people standing that side of the roundabout which is a shame because the race goes around the other side. Ooops.



I try not to go too mad at first despite the fact I find myself in the top thirty early on and I don’t resist too much when a lot of folks go past me. A top 100 finish would be great, it is a field of over 3000, but more important will be my time. Today is the day to get back under 40 minutes and hopefully record a new PB. The conditions are near perfect, a little chilly but the weather is fine. Last year it was wet and those sharp, almost hairpin, turns on the paved areas of the city centre got very slippery. Not such problems this year but I still don’t see any need for those tight turns in and out of the streets in the centre of Derby, a nice runner friendly loop would have been much better and still good for spectators of which there aren’t many anyway or perhaps I’m just too focussed to notice them.

Here’s a novelty, the sub-40 pacers go past me. Last year I left them for dust and still clocked over 40 minutes. Seems the organisers are taking no such risks this year and have employed pacers who are actually capable of doing the required time and by the look of them, they intend to be well inside it.

Someone has cunningly sent a group of drummers to the Market Square, presumably with the sole aim of trying to distract me from my goal. Well it isn’t going to work. I put my head down and ignore them, focusing instead on the backs of the sub-40 pacemakers who are trying to pull away from me. L tells me later that the drummers were there to entertain us and to spur us on. Apparently everybody further back in the field, where she was, gave them a clap. Hmmm.

Overall I enjoy the race but I do like an evil course and I think this one is particularly evil. Apart from the dizziness you get from doing the hokey cokey around the city centre, at the 5km point there’s a real hideous section. As you are nicely easing yourself downhill on Meadow Road they suddenly make you do a 180 degree turn onto a steep incline up and over the flyover. If that’s not horrific enough, a kilometre later they dangle Pride Park stadium, with its promise of the finishing line, a bottle of water and a nice t-shirt, in front of you prior to sending you out on a 3km loop before they finally let you return to the stadium.

There are rumours going around that they’ve changed the route but so far it seems to have been the same as last year. It appears that the only alteration was to remove the mysterious extra 200m that appeared last year and which also made all the km markers out of sync. The markers seem ok this year and with a kilometre to go I’m on pace for a 39.45. I try and push on to get that down to 39.40.

It’s not to be though. Perhaps there’s just too many turns as you twist around JJB Sports and then round the stadium. 39.52 though is a PB by 3 seconds and although I miss the top 100 by 2 places, I’m still pleased. I think.

Afterwards I drop L off at home before I go back out to take MD training. It would be nice to have had a rest but training opportunities for the little one are limited and the traditional warm down with L will have to wait. They’ll be time later before we head down the Plough for the other tradition, the well earned post-race refreshment.