[{"image":{"filepath":"public:\/\/default_images\/transparent.png"},"textarea":{"index":0,"content":"My first ever 10k road race was a great day. Yes it was very early in the morning, or at least it felt it because of just needing to do everything that needed doing that morning.\n\nWe got to the race start really early, such that there were maybe only 3-5 other entrants there. That next hour or so really flew by. More people came and eventually we had maybe 36 entrants. There were a couple of no-shows including one guy who made it about half an hour late with a hangover and just joined in about a third of the way through.\n\nWe started and I deliberately settled at the back. Only I realised quite quickly I was feeling good enough to go faster. I found a rhythm around 11-11.5km and found myself overtaking people. It probably wasn\u2019t until about 3k into the race when I finally found what felt like my rightful place on the road. I followed a couple of guys pretty much the whole last 5 or 6k. Then the race was just about endurance. The pace was what I had, and maybe I could have gone a fraction faster but I wasn\u2019t going to allow myself to go too fast at any stage. I put on a little sprint such that my last mile was my fastest ever (so my watch said) but maybe, just maybe, I could have given a little more.\n\nIn the end the official results had me down as 23rd out of 34 finishers, with a time a good couple of minutes faster than I was hoping for \u2013 53:10.\n\nNow I\u2019ve got no race plans until Silverstone next year, but I\u2019m sure I won\u2019t be able to wait until then! It was great day and I\u2019m looking forward to the next one!"},"link":{"url":null}}]