Yo yo, it's Yeooooooooovilton 5k calling!

Tempted by the prospect of clocking his fastest time of the season on an uber-flat and fast course, Roger Rowe headed over the border into Somerset to run in the final race of the Yeovilton 5k series. The following report is courtesy of Roger:

'Cool with a wonderful setting sun... this is what running is all about. The final race of the 6-race series is always fun, the culmination of much effort both by the organising club (Yeovil Town RC) and the competitors. I always intend to run the whole monthly series, but this year all I have managed is this final race due to the early season injury problems I encountered.

It was a pretty big field, and I set off at an extended lope feeling my way at a much higher pace than in any race this year; with doubts about whether or not I could sustain it for 3 miles! But the second kilometre marker showed that I was running a very even pace indeed, so I simply settled down to concentrate on 'keeping up the pressure'. Kilometre 3 and 4 both saw virtually exactly the same splits, and in the final rush I sought to up the pace to the finish (and did, but was overtaken by 3 or 4 in the last 100 metres).

The time? 19:50, sixty-one seconds quicker than last week's 5k in Exeter, and my swiftest paced run (6:24) in 2011. Pleased? Certainly, even when I discovered that I was only 2nd Vet/65 (by 3 seconds). MUCH better to run well and be beaten than to win and run less than well. WAVA percentage was 84.86% -- certainly well inside the top 10 overall.

I drove home feeling the visit was very much worth while. As virtually always in Yeovilton the lone Harrier -- pity, it's the fastest 5k course in the country; not a contour line anywhere!'


Roger R.