pickupthepacepaul

Kew the Run 2024. On 30th March 2024, I took part in Kew Gardens 10k. I don’t take part in many 10k, but it’s not every day you get to run around Kew Gardens, and this has always been one of my favourites. This is the 6th time (at least) that I have taken part in Kew Gardens 10k. I organised the inaugural pace team and did so until 2019 (Kew Gardens 10k 2019) before the Covid disruption, but I still took part in 2020 and 2021 (Kew Gardens 10k 2021). I always try to take part in Kew Gardens 10k, but I have not been able to take part over the last two years because of other events, last year I was busy running 10 Marathons in 10 Days, so I missed it.

I usually pace 45 minutes for 10k, but honestly, I’m not in any sort of shape to do this and be a confident, reliable pacer, so I opted for 50 minutes. It was really nice to have a solid 10k tempo run, and at 5 minutes per KM, it was easy to keep to pace. I paced with George, who was pacing for the first time. We had a really lovely big group running with us.

The first day of spring was clear to see, with the sun coming out for a glorious morning. When you think of perfect running conditions, this morning is what comes to mind for me. In the beginning, I arrived after a quick stop at the toilet and gave a bit of a talk to everyone to get everyone in the mood. Lots of eager faces ready for a morning run around Kew Gardens.

One of the areas I have always struggled with is my nutrition. I have been gagging a lot lately when trying to take gels. I knew SIS had improved their gels, and I wanted to try their fruit salad flavour. I thought I would use this 10k as a test. I wouldn’t usually have a gel in a 10k, but I wanted to sample in a controlled environment. OMG… it tastes exactly like fruit salad sweets. Liking the taste of a gel is important as it makes it easier to keep it down for it to do the work. I will definitely be trying these in my next marathon.

The course has slightly changed from the last time I ran Kew Gardens 10k, but it’s still as beautiful as ever. It isn’t every day you get to run through natural grounds like Kew Gardens. The course is mostly flat and on pavement. There are a few sections that cross over more uneven terrain, but they have removed the section that went a bit more into the trail. The course is only one lap, but to fit that into Kew Gardens, there are lots of twists and turns, with some narrow sections. Despite the narrow sections, the waved start helped to keep congestion down, and at 50 minutes, we were not delayed at any stage and had space to run.

We managed to keep the pace steady throughout, and most importantly, we kept a strong group of runners with us from start to finish. The 8 minute mile pace was comfortable, and a solid training run to keep at a steady pace. My watch says 49:45, but the official results say 39:40. Either way, I’m happy with that. I tried to keep us a few seconds under target at each km, and over the last 2km, I picked up the pace to ensure I took care of any inaccuracies. I had planned for 15 seconds, which is what it said on my watch, but at the start and finish, there were multiple timing mats, so clearly, this registered me a few seconds before I started.

Beautiful medal as always. With the half marathon happening the next day, it is usual with these events to get a bonus medal if you complete a race on both days.

Good day, running, and I look forward to coming back.