Conditions were decent but a strong breeze was evident. It wasn't too warm at the 11am start time. All the minor niggles and twinges I had felt during the week had disappeared thankfully.
I set off with the first dozen runners who quickly split into a lead group and a chasing group. After the first km I was just off the back of the second group but knew I had to let them go.
After another km or so I caught and passed 2 runners who tried to go with the second pack but were obviously at the red line early on.
From 3km onwards it was a solo effort. I could feel one of the 'passed' runners trying to stay with me but he fell back after another km.
I was ticking along nicely and was getting a real boost from the intermittent marshal points including some familiar faces at 10k. In fact I had to settle down after the adrenaline rush of the cheers each time.
The first 10k is run on a cycle path and once we came off this onto the roads the course got a little more lumpy. I didn't notice the small rises and falls but there was a couple of short, sharp climbs that curtailed my pace and I had to work hard to get back into stride once I crested the climbs.
The finish was a fast downhill into Criccieth with a fantastic grass section and over the finish line. We were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd and met up with Jo and some club mates for a quick photo.
I felt it was a good run and I felt strong which was a good confidence boost. 11th place overall and first of the Vet category teams to finish the stage. The next team was almost 4' back so got the team off to a great start. Unfortunately the team couldn't maintain this early momentum and we eventually finished 5th Vet team. I'm sure we can improve on this in 2023.
