Waddesdon 5k

by Kate Johnson

 

I did this race on a bit of whim, Adam Haylock reminded me at parkrun and I thought if I could get a Chip-Sitter it was game on.

Wednesday arrived and Andrew was free in the evening as was Grandma Speedy so we decided to go over to Waddesdon, Speedy would flyer and look after Chip and Andrew would join me in the dash round the grounds.

I had no idea how I might run as anything on an uphill gradient has been a real struggle due to back pain. Waddesdon is a 5km race that is 2.5km uphill and then 2.5km downhill. Very little of it is flat. So that presented a potential problem. I had struggled the night before going uphill.

Andrew and I warmed up and saw Adam and Katie Haylock, Jo Sharples and Sam Dear. 6 Buzzy entrants.

We jogged down to the start which was really narrow and really tall people kept shoving in front of me. This really annoys me as I am short! It was hard to hear the race briefing and before I knew it we were off.

Thankfully, the field spread out really quickly and the drag upwards began. I had probably gone out to fast, I have now found my Garmin so I knew it was too fast. I decided to just hang on as long as possible. There was a LFR runner not far in front of me who runs about 24 mins for 5km so I thought if I sit just behind her I may make it to the end in one piece.

1km, 2km all uphill, it was really muggy but trying to rain so not the best conditions but the best thing about this race is what goes up, must come down. I love gravity. The house came into sight and it really is stunning, then we were on the flat for a moment and then it was downhill.

My legs were like rubber and my lungs were on fire and oddly the downhill felt worse than the uphill. I was just willing my legs to hang on…. 3km, 4km. The last km of this race feels like a million miles. I really wanted a fast time, my back wasn’t in any pain, I just felt like jelly.

The end came into sight and I stopped my watch as I crossed the line.

25:56. I will have that thanks! That is what the 5am wake up calls are for, the runs, the sessions on the spin bike, the weight loss, it’s for every time I turned down food I wanted, it’s for every day I was so tired from juggling working, commuting, training and being a new mum.

It’s not a time that will set the world alight. But it’s over 2 mins faster than any 5km I have run since 2017.

I will probably be very broken tomorrow, but that’s tomorrow.