Wolverton 5 miles, Milton Keynes, 27/11/10

Report from Peter Simpson:

Traditionally held in the afternoon I decided to use the morning for the Badger Day of Action. I thought I allowed plenty of time to get to my local event at Willen Lake but relying on the buses for part of the journey rather than endure the cold cycle journey, the unforeseen happened. The bus driver was taken ill but leaving the bus without saying anything, we were left waiting and guessing for some time. I had planned to walk the last 1.5 miles but it turned out to be like a race walk, arriving with just 10 minutes to go. Managed to get to the start line with just minutes to spare.

The event is held on pedestrian/cycle paths and is a figure of 8 course around the north and south lakes and generally flat. Although only just above freezing, there was no ice on the course just a flurry of snow during the race. The Wolverton 5 miles event normally has a high percentage of club runners and a quality field. Going well recently I was hoping to set a good personal time for my 2nd event as a V50. Started at a fair pace but noticed a lot of runners overtaking me in the first mile. An exposed course but luckily little wind today. After about two miles I began to improve my position and maintained a steady pace for much of the distance. There was no clock at the finish so guessed I had run under 34 mins and it was later that evening the time was confirmed as 33.33 and position 111th.

With the Badger stall still going, it was time to get back to relieve the campaigners who must have been pretty numb standing around given the cold.