Brussels 20km Result

1:51:09

I am thrilled and amazed!

The run itself was very much a curates egg. I had a high number which meant I started at the back. The run started and finished in the Cinquantenaire Park. We were marshalled in the courtyard by the huge arches - all 25,000 of us.

The cannon went for the start of the run at 3:00 but 5 minutes later I was still waiting to pass under the arches of the Cinquantenaire monument, 25,000 people is a huge hoard! I wasn't too stressed about this though because I like every other runner had a chip tied to my shoe which would time the moment I crossed the start line and finish line and my race time would be calculated on that, not the time on the clock when I cross the finish line.

What was a little confusing was the fact that the official start line was at the exit from the Cinquantenaire park, not under the arches where we started. I zeroed the GPS as I crossed that line and I was off - except I wasn't. I could only just jog along rather than striding out at the pace I had calculated. The number of runners was amazing and they all were running slower that I wanted to go!

The route was past the EU, down Avenue Arts et Loi, round the Royal Park, past the King's Palace (we all waved), left onto Rue Royale, past Petit Sablon and on to the Palace du Justice where we turned left, down into the underpass (which was airless and packed) and then out onto Avenue Louise and through 3 more underpasses until we reached the Park on the edge of the Foret de Soignes. We looped around the lake and passed the 10km point and then out onto Ave Franklin Roosevelt, and on to Chaussee de la Hulpe, and then Bvd du Souverain. It was only after the 12km point that the crowd thinned out and I was able to put a bit of a burst on for about 4kms where we turned onto Avenue de Treveuren. I then slowed down because I knew what was coming next; from 17km to 19km markers the Avenue de Treveuren climbs quite steeply. It is a swine!

At the top was the BMPH3 beer stop - except I missed it. I was looking the other way when I ran past it and so didn't pick up a beer that was offered to all Hashers running. I wasn't about to turn back and pounded on to the finish - even managing a bit of a sprint over the last few hundered metres.

As I crossed the line the clock read 2:00:04, but checking my GPS it read 1:51:16. I didn't believe it because I knew it had lost contact with the satellite on a number of occassions round the course, so I guessed I had done about 1:55. I had been very frustrated by the traffic and felt that I had not run well. My GPS had kept on cutting out, so I had no accurate idea of my speed or time because I had been relying on it to tell me this rather than using my watch and the distance markers.

After I had the chip taken of my shoe and received my medal I made my way to "Houser's" house. I was feeling OK, except my legs were incredibly tired. Once fully rehydrated I had a beer or two and then someone said "Let's check the results". Because of the chips in our shoes the results were being posted in near real time on the internet. I had convinced myself my time would be around 1hr 55 mins, so when the printout was produced I was stunned to see my official time was 1:51:09.

We had a very nice supper at Houser's. I kept everyone amused with a range of stories and everyone had a good time. The photos are on line at http://public.fotki.com/ForrestGulp/bmph3/20_de_bruxelles/

Generally I had a good run despite the feeling of being held up. My right ankle which had been bothering me with aches and pains and tendonitis all week and right up to the start of the run suddenly stopped hurting and was fine all the way round and has been fine ever since! I got a sore toe and I think I will loose the toenail but that didn't slow me down. I was very stiff on Monday morning and was moving like a very old man. Nevertheless I ran with the Hash on Monday evening (photos, with me with my eyes shut at Forrest Gulp's site http://public.fotki.com/ForrestGulp/bmph3/coppa_del_mondo ).

I am still a bit sore in the legs and probably won't run again this week, but I think I will be out running in the week next week. Eric, my training partner who had a disasterous run finishing almost 2 minutes behind me, is keen to enter further races. I'll see how I feel once I get over this one before committing to any more pain.

My official certificate showing my official time which is 7 seconds faster than my GPS time. I guess I didn't switch it off fast enough once I crossed the line at the finish. As I started towards the back of 25000 runners and finished 10082nd I passed around 15000 runners - and each one of them seemed to be in my way!

The Sportstracks maps show the full trail though I had to tweek them a bit because of the loss of signal, particularly in the park. Curiously according to Sportstracks I ran 20.26km. The race is called "The 20km of Brussels" but I've been told that it is actually 20.6km. Perhaps the difference 370metre discrepency is the length of the Cinquantenaire Park!