2020 was supposed to be a big year of racing for myself, and I'm sure lots of you, but the global pandemic had other ideas. We've all been thrown into a ‘new normal’ and that looks very different worldwide when it comes to racing. Some locations called it early, America announced the full end of their season a few months back and Asia cancelled things pretty far in advance too. I had all the disappointments from Asia and then our relocation back to the UK meant the announcement of the UK Spartan Series and I had to change my training again to focus on some winter races. I’d been training very hard but, two weeks out, the season was cancelled. I totally get it, cases in the UK continue to rise and it is the sensible thing to do, but when you put all that hard work and training it, its tough to not be disappointed again.

The nature of obstacle racing meant that it was always going to be a challenge setting them up in a COVID safe way, there is so much touching of the same kit and obstacles, and as result, trying to run a competitive event for OCR is always going to be harder than putting on a running event. So, with no Spartan races now till at least June 2021 for us, it was time to see what else we could find. After a bit of googling, it seemed that running and triathlon events were still going ahead for now in the UK. I don’t own a bike and the water is FAR too cold here to consider getting in it in September, so that left me with some running events.

The first one that seemed suitable was a 5km time trial about a 30-minute drive from us. It may seem silly but I don’t really deem myself as a ‘competitive runner’ I enjoy the obstacles breaking up the running in a race and while I love running for pleasure, for me 5km is the kind of distance that is just pure pain. But, we can’t be choosy when it comes to racing at the moment and I have been working hard on my Team Grit training to improve my running so Sean wanted to re-test my 5km time - so we signed up.

Pre-Race
To register it was a simple online form (If you’re in the Hertfordshire / Essex area, it’s worth checking out the other events that Active Training World have https://activetrainingworld.co.uk/ ) and then we were sent a comprehensive document explaining what they were doing to keep things safe for the event. They made it very clear what was expected of racers and even included a video briefing so this did not need to be done on the day. They also asked us to submit our predicted timing for the race so that they could arrange the staggered start in order of speed to reduce the need to overtake. I was impressed with the clarity of the information and as someone who is certainly staying very cautious at the moment, I felt happy going into the event.

The Day
I thought I would be a barrel of nerves going into a race that was so out of my comfort zone after so long without racing. We tested my 5km in May back in Singapore and I was a wreck for a week beforehand, and that was without any competition. I hate running at such a fast pace for such a long time so the 5km is the race that really gives me the most fear, especially as there really are no second chances if you make a mistake over that timing. But, I actually felt ok on the day, I knew that we would be staggered in our start times as a result of COVID restrictions, so there would be no way of knowing out on course how my time compared and all I could do was go and run the best that I could. I also figured that the cooler temperatures and lower heart rate would help in improving my time anyway. Although, stepping out of the car and being hit with some killer winds that took my breath away left me questioning the ‘cooler air’ and my choice of outfit. My plan had been to run in leggings and a vest but at the last minute and I decided to leave my gloves, headband and rain jacket on, something that would come back to haunt me at around 3km when all I wanted was to de-layer but I didn’t have the time to stop and do so. I have since been told to ‘be bold, start cold,’ and looking at all the runners in their shorts and t-shirts - clearly, that was the way to proceed, but relocating was always going to come with things to work on so I’ll keep playing around with my outfits.

Everything on the day ran really smoothly. From clear signage to maintain distance during bib collection and checking in through an app, it was clear that Active Training World had tried to think of everything. Our bibs were coloured and they matched different pens that had been set up in a very large field. Each pen had a toilet, hand sanitizer and wipes, all good steps in maintaining good hygiene. When they were ready for us, we walked over to the start line and they got us to stand in lines, 1m apart in number order. It was a bit weird waiting around to be called and I felt that I let my warm-up suffer as a result of it but it was worth it to ensure the right measures were put in place. We then headed to the start line and they let us off a few seconds apart. I must admit it was quite the challenge getting up to speed from 0 to sub 4min pace but I got there and my first km ticked over at 3.56.

My aim was to stick as close to a 4-minute pace for as long as I could before being sick or dying and it worked pretty well. My previous PB was 20:57 but I figured I may as well have a crack at going sub 20. The second km always seems to be the worst for me so I just focused on keeping my feet moving. The next 20 minutes were suitably horrific as I redlined my way along the course. I have a habit of questioning all my life choices during a 5km time trial so I can’t say I enjoyed it… but I’d love to see if there is anyone out there who enjoys running 5km for time? I didn’t have it in me to go sub 20 and as I rounded the last corner my watch ticked over to 20:00 and I crossed the finish line with a time of 20.15 (Or 20.13 if you’re asking Strava). Again, this had been set up in a COVID suitable way. There was plenty of space in the field and I was given a medal and a bottle of water and I watched Sean finish his race shortly after me and we headed away from the finish line.

Post-Race
While it was great to race, the one thing I did really miss was the vibe afterwards. Understandably this was not a social event so once you had run your race you were encouraged to head home. But I had beaten my PB by more than 40 seconds and I was really happy with my run and I missed being in the moment absorbing the experience. I had no idea how I had placed due to the staggered start but we were told that the results for this would be posted later that evening, either way, there would be no awards ceremony or podiums.Luckily, I had Sean there so we had a debrief and headed off to get some breakfast but it certainly felt like the great post-race vibe and chatting to people was really missing. I also really need to make some local running friends and in a normal world this would have been the perfect event to do so, but obviously, the priority was safety.

Later that day the results were posted and I found out that I had placed second for the women’s race. I couldn’t have been more surprised, I was happy with the improvement of my time but did not expect that to place me in a top spot. It then felt even more strange that there had not been an awards ceremony and I really missed the chance to stand on the podium for my first real running race. As I write this I am still waiting for my trophy in the post and it does seem a little anti-climactic. But, I was given the opportunity to race and that was worth it. All of the things put in place were worth it to run an event and it gave me hope that we might see some more running races continue through the winter and into 2021 to allow me to check in with my progress and give me some goals to head towards. My initial goal moving back to the UK had always been to focus on my running so I’ll keep working on maintaining my upper body and grip strength in the gym and hopefully get to toe the start line of some more races, although I’ve got some work to do on my winter running outfits if I have any chance of surviving them…