By Pete Mackrell 

 

Whilst most of LBAC were doing the 10k on their doorstep, I travelled further afield for the Finchley 20. Two thing struck me as being particularly odd about "the UK's longest running 20 mile road race", firstly it isn't even in Finchley any more, it's in Ruislip 11 miles away, and secondly the official car park is at the crematorium, hardly a good omen!

           

On the startline I bumped into Joe Hurley and we discussed the four lap race which awaited us. Most people detest doing laps but I quite enjoy them, once you've run 5 miles there are no surprises ahead and it means you get more support at the roadside, especially as you pass the start/finish area. I always seem to keep spotting new things on each lap so I obviously don't pay much attention to what is going on around me.

 

Running conditions were a perfect spring day: not too hot and hardly any wind. The course has a few inclines but there's nothing to really slow you down. I was hopeful of beating my PB of 2hr12 but got carried away and feared the worst when I went through 10 miles in 1:00:30, way too quick. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised to not lose too much time on the second half and finished 13^th out of 501, in a time of 2:02:38. With marathons and Ironmen to come later in the year, 20 miles is a relative stroll for Joe and he breezed round in 2:28:32  to finish 138^th.