Notes
Official time:
5km: 21:34
10km: 44:29
Yes! Achieved the goal for 2016 of sub-45! Got in some decent training after Kistaloppet but a football injury (another!) to my ankle meant that I have only run twice in the last 2 weeks. This is why I am hanging up the football boots!
I accidentally arrived more than an hour early and it was not exactly a warm day. So after a bit of milling around and some internetting, I headed off to the start line. I got in at the front of my start group and was leading the race/startgroup for the first 500m. I was about 10th at 1km. Well, 10th of the group2 men. I felt the ankle a bit around 2-4km but that went away as the race went on. I knew at 4km that sub-45 was on as long as I didn't stop. I kept waiting for a bad time to arrive but I was under the 45min pace until 6km but by then I had a big buffer of 54 seconds (actually more as the watch was running long). That buffer kept whittling away until it was down to 18 seconds at 9km. Surely, I could run the last km faster than 4:48? Indeed, I did! Ended up 31 seconds ahead with a 44:29!