I was very excited about running Sentrumsløpet 2009. First of all because it was my first 10km race and for the last 2 years sine I started running I have been focusing on the full marathon (I started with a couple of half marathons before doing a full marathon last year in Oslo). Secondly because it's in the middle of the pollen season so I was worried about my condition.
I arrived in Oslo a couple of hours before the race to pick up my startnumber and get ready. It turns out I was early, as always, with no lines anywhere. So I sat around waiting for the race and watching the kids race of 500 and 1500m.
The race had 3500 participants and with such a crowd I was a bit nervous about the start and getting up to speed fast enough. I had set a goal of maximum 50 min. and I'm a stayer, but not very fast so I wouldn't be able to make up for lost time at the start. I managed to get close to the front but still with a lot of people in front of me.
Of we went and I managed to get to the left side of the road to be able to pass a few people up the first hill past the Royal Palace. With this kind of crowd I tried to be as gentle as possible passing people so I wouldn't heart my self or others. The start is the most risky phase of race if you ask me.
The first 2km is pretty much uphill, but my legs felt really good so I kept a nice pace picking it up a little bit when entering Vigelands park. After that I could pretty much keep my own pace not worrying about bumping into fellow runners. Passing 7km I was still feeling good, but the last 3km turned out to be really hard. Much of it was uphill and I had to push myself hard to keep upthe speed. I crossed the finish line at 45:46 very happy with my performance and time. I don't think I could have gone any faster that day.
I'm definitley doing more 10km races in the future. Loads of fun.
I even did a short video about the race. Check it out.
