An Absence of Cats and Dogs - Cabbage Patch 10

What the hell am I doing here? Lining up with a load of sinewy whippets, the scent of Ralgex* heavy in the air on a cool Sunday morning in Twickenham. Well, I figured I hadn't done many classic local races and the autumn this year is about adressing that, with Farnham Pilgrim, Clarendon and Beachy Head marathons (all big hills and trails in the country) and the odd one out, the Cabbage Patch 10 - just 10 miles of flat roads around Twickenham, Kingston and Richmond. (I wish I could fit in the Hog's Back Road Race and Knacker Cracker too, but I have other runs to do). 

I was quite worried about this run. I had a decent run at Clarendon marathon the week before, but still had knee trouble (patella tendonitis) that made me pull out of a Friday track session and walk part of Frimley parkrun the day before. Sunday morning my knee felt OK, so I put a strap on it, donned my most cushioned Hokas and decided to take it easy. 

The weather forcast was not wrong on Sunday morning - pissing down all morning and all the way from Sandhurst to the race start near the Cabbage Patch pub in Twickenham. I got a lift there and met more Sandhurst Joggers club mates in a nearby Cafe Nero. A quirk of this run, not much room at bag drop in the pub, so use your own cars and park nearby and there are no portaloos, so all the local coffee shops and pubs are open to use loos and get a pre-race drink in. With the weather they were all rammed and doing brisk business.

10 minutes before the start the rain had eased off and we went out to the holding area in a side road off the High Street. 10:00 ticked by and the start line marshals stopped the traffic and walked us out to the street and a line of flour on the tarmac - no timing mat, this is gun to chip timed. The hooter sounded and we were off. 

The running gods must have been looking out for us, as the torrential rain of the morning stayed away for the whole of my run, though it was back 5 minutes after the finish, so there were plenty of people who got drenched. I had lined up with SJ clubmate Dave about 30m from the front and watched him disappear off as soon as the hooter sounded, while I set off at a steady pace. Three more club mates passed me in the first mile, but I kept one of them, Jon, in sight and caught up with him again just after 3 miles and we ran a steady pace together until 8 miles. A bit of chat seemed to take my mind off my knee and it just wasn't troubling me. 

The course south of the river isn't actually within sight of the Thames for most of this section and winds its way past flats and houses and alongside some parkland and it's only after 7 miles that the river comes back into view. It is pretty flat though, so some speedy times are on offer if you want to push. 

On Richmond Bridge I went past a Runnymede runner who had passed me at 2 miles and called out some encouragement "Come on Runnymede, you've got this!" Then just just after the bridge I got a challenge in return "Look out Sandhurst! You're getting beat by a fat Runnymede runner!" Just the encouragement I needed and I picked up the pace to see who I could catch over the last mile. I finished in 1:26:28 and, even better, had no knee trouble at all. 

The finish area looked a bit chaotic, with lots of people milling about at different tables. I got my medal and then an empty bag and joined the throngs of runners picking up what they wanted to fill a goody bag - bananas, cereal bars, cans of beer, bottle of water and finally the all important Cabbage Patch 10 long sleeved shirt. 

Five minutes later and the heavens opened, so it was a quick dash to Dave's car to get my gear, get changed and then back to the cafe for coffee and chat. Great race and a great result for me in terms of the knee trouble - it seems like rest makes it worse, gently jogging round makes it worse, but hammering it over a hilly marathon or a 10 mile race makes it better! Go figure.