Goteborg Folksam Grand Prix 2009

My first 5000m in 4 years and a P.B..13.44 at the Goteborg Grand Prix.

The race was set up for a Swedish guy Mustafa and he wanted to run sub 13.20. There were some good guys in the field, a few had run sub 13.20, few that had run around 13.30 and a few around 14.00 so it was perfect for me. Before the start I knew who I wanted to be around for the first few laps of the race. For me personally it’s important to remember when running fast long distance races that you can’t win a race in the first half but you can defiantly loose one!!

The meet was good, a nice, small stadium, with quite a few people there (most probably because of Carolina Kluft) which made it a good atmosphere. Better than that at the Manchester BMC anyway!!

I did my usual warm up and felt excellent. I knew then it was going to be a good night. The race set off and I settled into the pack exactly where I wanted to be, on the inside and tried to be as efficient as possible.

I don’t remember too much of the race, I didn’t get any splits while running. It’s funny sometimes after races, usually good ones, I struggle to remember anything about it!! Bizarre..

I do remember the Kips and Collis off in front, and then a group of Scott Overall, Skinner, Me and Henrik Skoog (one of the guys who have run sub 13.30) forming. I was told after that our group passed the mile in around 4.20 I think.

At the mile our group was lead by Scott, then Henrik, then Skins and then I was settled in behind. I passed Skins, as a gap was opening and then did the same with Scott. I’m not sure at what point in the race but Skins dropped off first and then Scott. I was left with Henrik leading me with no-one around us!! Again after I was told we passed 3k in 8.15 and I felt great. Usually the hardest point in the race is from 3k to 4k. With 5 laps to go I was waiting for the hurt to come, but it never did. I wanted to push on, run harder, but the conditions weren’t great with the wind and the rain so I decided against it. I decided it would be better getting a solid run in knowing I can run harder and faster and build on my confidence rather than try and force it and risk wrecking it. So against all of my instincts I sat and waited until 300m to go. Then I made my move and surprisingly nearly caught Mustafa. I think I ran my last 300 in 45/46.

Overall I can’t complain. My first race in Europe I ran a 13 second P.B and come away knowing there is a lot more to come.

Drapes