Marston Forest 5K, Bedfordshire
Apart from the first 300 metres or so, the course is held off-road around the narrow perimeter path of the Marston Vale Community Forest. It is essentially flat with some sharp turns / obstacles and many potholes. Taking a break this year, I was following the fortunes of Bruce Lovell. Running for his local club Team Balancise that he helped to set-up a couple of years ago, Bruce plans to switch 1st claim club to VRUK next year.Bruce took a break over the winter and only returned to full training in April. It has not taken Bruce long to return near to full fitness, in a quality field, Bruce was made to work hard for his 13th place and time of 17.11, a personal best for the distance but Bruce has run under 17 minutes for 5K split times in longer race distances. Historically, the only other VRUK member to run faster was James Meldrum back in 2007 when he ran three sub-17 minute times for his local club in Liverpool, the fastest of 16.16. Warming up for the event, Bruce ran the course and similarly to warm down wearing his VRUK hoodie.
