Last Race of the Year (not counting the 5k challenge on the 27th...)

Warm one today out at the SMC.

Wasn't all that fussed about racing today, but as seems to be the case the social aspect is an attraction. Didn't really have a plan, just to keep Ray James in sight and see how it went from there.

Followed Ray through the first km, and we seemed to pick the pace up close to the 1km marker. Given it was pretty warm, plus what happened last month (out too hard), I got out of the throttle to get back to around 4:04 pace, and it felt like half the field went past me over the next 400 metres.

I followed a policy of taking it easy up the hills, maintaining good pace on the flat, and pushing on the downhills. I gradually worked my way through the guys who passed me, picking Ray up at the 10k aid station, who fell off on the climb just past there. I proceeded to run near a fellow in an SMC singlet and red hat. We had a couple of little pushes here and there, with me testing him on the downhill before you turn right past the 15km marker and again at the final turnaround. He got by me again on the uphill near the bus-stop and powered off - there wasn't a lot I could do about it. To add insult to injury, fellow Strider Peter got by me near the end again, with a good strong finish to slip past with about 600m to go - good finish.

Managed eight place for an 85:17. I'm actually reasonably pleased with the run - I'm sure the heat probably added quite a bit of time to everyone's results today. Many people reporting being 10-30 seconds slower. I ran a good even pace through the event. Funny how running is - I was pretty ticked off last month with 85: 05, and this month I'm pleased with 12 seconds slower.