It’s been a difficult couple months of running and I have my first half marathon coming up. This race seemed like a good training run and I wasn’t aiming for a particular time. The Leiden Ladiesrun is a small race. Around a 1000 women had the choice of running one 5k loop or two times the same loop to make it a 10k.
It had been dry all week, but there was rain predicted during the race on Friday evening. While waiting in the corral it started to rain, but luckily it wasn’t pouring down. We did get a little bit wet, but this also made it a little cooler. In the end it was around 18 degrees, which I think was a good temperature.
The loop goes through a residential area as well as along some fields and a windmill. The first loop was going very well, but I expected to drop in pace later on, since that’s what seems to happen in my training runs lately. I also expected that about half of the runners would continue onto the second loop, but when I started the second loop I noticed that I lost most of the runners around me. I think about 80% of runners had decided to run the 5k, therefore, the second loop wasn’t as nice as the first since it was pretty quiet.
The marshals were very nice and supportive. At the water station one of the boys told me “you’re the last runner”, but I had to tell him there were at least four runners still behind me and that he had to at least wait for them. I managed to keep up my pace for the second loop, much to my own surprise. When I stopped my watch at the 10k mark I noticed my Garmin said 1:14:29, a new PB! I hadn’t planned on running a PB, but I think the temperature, the time of day and the course made it an ideal combination to run a good time.
I got rewarded with a very nice medal, with the crossed keys, the symbol of the city of Leiden. The keys were intertwined with flowers and in front is a sparkly female runner. All in all a nice race, well organized and a nice atmosphere.
