Home-made bin liner ponchos, 70% chance of thunderstorms, heavy rain and kit bags full of dry clothing for changing into after the forecast deluge. That was the dire weather warning for Vitality 10k. In reality, the weather turned out to be just right – dry & 19 degrees. Despite being damp & muddy under foot in Green Park, the roads remained water-free.
I have participated in a number of 10k events since my first in 2023. Vitality 2024 has taken my count of officiated 10k runs to six, which, for this one, was particularly special as today marked my 72nd birthday.
My journey to Vitality 10k started on the tube at Wembley Park. At Finchley Road, many more runners climbed on-board. By the time I got to Green Park the station was heaving with 1000s of runners with kit bags bulging at the seams.
On arriving to my pen, I thought my 'Smile for Miles' group (Wave 10) would be relatively small in number and perhaps contain a bunch of the older runners/newbies. I was surprised, however, to see a large number of runners from a wide age group. At the allocated time, we were herded to the start line before setting off to 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen. A great crowd pleaser to get the adrenalin rush rushing.
For the first mile or so I huffed & puffed to get my heart rate into jogging mode. Once I got to operating temperature, I felt surprisingly good allowing me to maintain a reasonable pace. My race plan was to stick with the pace of runners slightly ahead of me. By so doing, I found that I overtook several runners/walkers during the first half of the course. I was careful not to over egg my pace though. I changed to a new pace maker when I found the going got tougher to keep up.
It was good to get to the half way point to get refreshed at the water stop. The crowds and groups of musicians along the route were good motivators to keep moving. The second half of the course was a bit harder but getting to the end with a final sprint was really satisfying. I was one of over 15,000 runners to finish. Of the 28 other Hoopsters that took part, I only saw Hoopster John in Green Park before the start, and again when we passed each other along the second half but on opposite sides of the course.
I picked up my chunky medal and M-Relax T-shirt after crossing the finishing line with a PB of 1:08:39 - an improvement of 3 minutes (2:52 to be precise) over my previous PB. My split times for the two halves were 33:17 & 35:22. I put down achieving this 10k PB to John for his on-going encouragement & support at the parkruns in Gladstone Park.
I would like to say a big thank you to a young supporter in Hoopster colours, Danni, who gave a shout out and support for me as I passed by her on the final stretch along Birdcage Walk. I since discovered that Danni, herself a runner, is the niece of Bill. I guess it runs in the family genes.
Finally, an eagle-eyed Hoopster spotted a spelling mistake on the T-shirt. On the basis that stamps & coins containing errors on them rocket in value, you got to ask yourself: would that apply to the Vitality T-shirts too!