State 10km Road Champs - 29th in 32:41

Perfect morning. Cool and no breeze. Rocked up to find a cast of thousands from the HuRT Squad. Everyone but the injured was there. Did my usual pre race drills and was feeling great which boded well. Lined up next to Chadi and Tucks and we were off. It's a lightning quick start. Very wide and slightly downhills which lends itself to a charge of the light brigade. I was chatting to the Tiger afterwards and he said something which I had been thinking earlier this week - if you want a fast course for 10km, it has to have a fast start so that you get into the rythmn of running quick. It's why North Head is now slower since they changed the course, and why Lane Cove is relatively quick despite the hills. Anyway, none has a faster start than this one.

Fortunately I wasn't wearing a watch as Bartles said we went through 1km in 2:59. At that point I felt great and actually pushed on through to 2km. At that stage we had a group formed dominated by Striders - Tucks, Keith, Thamal, Tongey, Bleasel, Lara Tamsett (the only non-Strider!) and myself. Someone shouted out 9.28 at 3km. Still felt good. But on the drag between 4 and 5km past the Olympic Stadium I started to suffer. Keith said we went through 5km in 16:04 and I was still in touch. However, at the U-turn I just couldn't hold the pace despite everything I told myself before the race. It wasn't mental, I just didn't have it. They slowly gapped me between 5 and 7km where I told myself I could either put it all in or slowly drift away. Concentrated on catching Tongey who had become detached from the group. Caught him at the turn after 8km and then concentrated on Keith who looked as though he was starting to drop off the group too. Had a strong finish to drop Tongey but Keith was too far ahead, beating me by 6 seconds. Chuffed to bits with the time though. Only 4 seconds shy of the PB but I was spent - I don't think I could have squeezed any more time out of the race.

Some great times out there - Terence with 34:01, Timmy getting his dream with a 34:51, Andy running 33:45 just in front of Clyde (how does he do that off minimal training?), JB with a 33:21 3 weeks after Ironman (gives me hopes for C2S post GCM yet) but run of the day was Wildman. 30:37 to finish 5th, just failing to catch Scott Westcott! As Tiger said, it's amazing what can be achieved with a bit of class and determination.

Special mention to Young Timmy. We were all rootting for you mate. Walked back to the car with Big Sam after the race and he said that as soon as he crossed the finish line he went and gave Timmy a hug knowing how much it meant to him. Plainly a bit of Richie High behaviour going on there.

Also should mention Lara Tamsett's performance. Never great being chicked but 32:27 for a road 10km puts her in world class territory.

Results here.

I wasn't bad with my predictions. See the post below for the actual results versus predictions...