Last Friday 5k
25th July 2008

Bedford Boys Away Day – Last Friday 5km , Hyde Park 25^th July 2008

It’s Friday, Its 5 o’clock and its CRACKERJAACK !! Er….no, actually it’s Friday, its Hyde Park and its bloody hot ! What is it about public parks and 5kms ? Doesn’t the Great British public deserve any respite from marauding nutters in silly vests and tight shorts ? Quite frankly, no they don’t, and judging by some of the lunatics that have tried to make a mockery of the recent Doug Anderson and today’s race, they deserve to suffer. The train journey down was fast but the conversation crawled by at a snail’s pace as Farmer Joe and Farmer Paul discussed the merit of the common garden pea. I passed the time by applying amples of sun tan lotion, only to be told on completion by Paul that `its going to rain later`. Today was a day out for the Bedford Boys , as the Harriers were joined in numbers by Paul and Dave from Beds County (boo hiss). It had the feel of a Cross Country meeting as we were standing by the bandstand with runners from North Herts, Ampthill & Flitwick and Riverside Runners. Alan the Teaboy from The Ministry turned up with two friends in tow , and the Harriers numbers were complete. Adam was still grinning from his pb performance on Wednesday , Joe was still trying to hold in his stomach, and Alan was saying that he was worn out from all the tea stirring he had been doing. As per usual there was the staggered start. My game plan today was not to go off to quick and pace myself behind Paul. The weather although not particularly sunny, was very warm and muggy and somewhat uncomfortable for racing conditions. The race started and I could see Adam trying to push forward at a quick pace. After the first turn the runners headed down a slight decline, when a gang of student types (spots, long hair , attitude and no brains, and also dressed up as pirates) chased the front runners , screaming abuse, and waving plastic swords at them. I don’t know how close they got to the runners, but from where I was it looked like they ran onto the course and may have impeded the front runners. My GPS bleeped my first mile pace, and I was concerned that I may have gone off too slowly. I ran behind Paul all the way round , and managed to squeeze past him in the last few metres (tee hee). Adam was way ahead, and finished in 18.02 (still awaiting official times) which was very close to the pb he got on Wednesday (okay Adam, I`ve mentioned that twice now, and that’s got to be worth a fiver !). Alan was disappointed with his run, and Joe was still trying to work out to turn on his GPS by the time he had finished. All done and dusted, we posed for the obligatory group photos, before heading to the pub. It was only a quick visit , but Joe says I should mention that it is time Weatherspoons changed their menus and get more `guest beers` in, spoken like a true athlete. All in all, an enjoyable day, and another notch on the ol` race calendar.

By Justin Openshaw

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