Corrida d'Issy les Moulineaux

Race day - and what a miserable day it was too. First the alarm rang at 7:10 am and I wondered where on earth I was. My mouth was dry, a slight headache as I moved, a distinct lack of sleep and I felt in no state to run a race. So much for partying the night before a race, must remember never to do that again. Laurence was in the same state and it was with great difficulty that I managed to get her out of bed at all this morning.

We got the boys up and into their running kit too as they were taking part in the first race of the day at 9:00 am. Our race was scheduled at 10:00 am which left us with slightly longer to shake off the previous night's excesses.

We managed to get to Issy on time which was a miracle in itself and the boys lined up on the start line with 312 other youngsters ready to run 3km. The weather was slightly warmer than the last couple of days, thank goodness, but there was a slight drizzle and it was decidely grey. They set off at a steady pace, not letting themselves be carried off by the enthusiasm that grips most of the kids, sprinting desperately for 300m before collapsing into a state of utter exhaustion. Nick and I walked around to the finish to see them arrive and sure enough after not even 10 minutes the first boy came in 42 seconds ahead of the field to finish in 10:00 precisely. This boy has class, so look out for Emmanuel Roudolff in the future, and remember that you heard about him here first !! Antoine, a firend of Paul's, came in first out of our children, followed by Alex, Nick's son, and then Henry and Paul running together. I thought that it was unusual that Henry was so far back in the field, finishing in 15:41. After the race, I touched his forehead, which was raging hot; he had gone down with a good bout of cold.

We lined up for our race next, a 6 km course comprising of 2 loops (the same 2 that the kids had done earlier). I didn't have a very good starting position as there were many people in front of me. The gun went and the first difficulty was avoiding the runner who went down in front of me. There was a little jostling but the road widened and I was able to get into my stride quickly without being too hampered by the other runners. I caught up with Nick after about 500m and waved as I went past. I would have spoken some words of encouragement, but I was already out of breath and concentrating on maintaining a reasonable speed. I looked at my watch as the autolap beeped the first kilometre: 3:34. Not too bad, now I had to keep this speed until the finish.

The race didn't evolve much for me from this point on. I was about 35th in the race and a small group of runners were ahead. I felt that I was in no-man's land for most of the race as they were too far ahead to go and chase and the runners behind maintained their distance. The course was pretty flat and so it was a bit of a surprise to feel a slight downhill from the 2 to 3 km markers. I wondered where we'd gained the height in the first place ! I told myself that I'd have to look more closely on the second lap.

The second lap was quick too and before long I had passed the 5km marker and the group in front of me was beginning to disintegrate. Two of the runners were marines and I concentrated on closing them down. I pushed the pace slightly now, telling myself that it was now or never and that the finish was almost in sight. I passed them and they couldn't follow, clearly tiring visibly from the initial speed. A last effort around the final bends and I could hear a runner behind me putting on a sprint finish. I sprinted too but was too tired now to put all my heart into it. The runner behind me pipped me to the line - damn !

Finishing time was 23:02 and the Garmin stated 6.47 km. Nick finished 18 places behind in 23:51, having managed to beat a guy to the line in his sprint.

Laurence and Anne ran together and finished a great race in 29:41 finishing in 6th and 7th places in their respective categories. Laurence was really pleased with her time, and deservedly so. Anne measured the course at 6.30 km which was probably more accurate than mine.

My splits were as follows:

3:34; 3:18; 3:40; 3:42; 3:40; 3:33; 1:38 (3:30)

The second kilometre is definitely a mistake and I was more likely just under 3:40 at this stage. I was pleased with the times as I averaged under 3:40 per kilometre which was my objective. Good course, good organisation - more food and fruit at the end would have been appreciated. We'll be back next year!

P.S. Just checked route on Gmap and it is precisely 6.30 km, which means that my average speed was 3:39 per km - excellent. Very pleased. Nick will be pleased with his average too at 3:47 per km.