On Wednesday evening I raced the second race of the Bitton 5k Series organised by Bitton Road Runners. This series of four races offers fast, friendly midweek races throughout the summer. It's a perfect opportunity for chasing PBs and enjoying a competitive run in a welcoming club atmosphere. Kinisi Run Hub are proud to be supporting this year's series and were there with a pop-up shop.
The race HQ is at the Avon Valley (Bitton) Railway Station along the old Bristol-Bath railway line. This is a great location for the HQ with ample parking and facilities including toilets on site. The race takes place on the cycle path and is a certified out and back course starting towards Bath and returning towards Bristol. The path is flat and tarmac which means you can really pick up the pace!
The start of the race is a little narrow as it is on the cycle path however, the organisers did a good job of getting people to line up against their potential with rough time indication markings. The cycle path is open to the public but there are plenty of marshals on the course to ensure there are no issues.
The event attracts runners from lots of the local clubs and looking around on the start line there were strong turnouts from the likes of Bristol & West AC, Westbury Harriers and of course Bitton Road Runners. In fact I was told after the race that it was the biggest turnout they have had for years with almost 100 runners taking part.
The race got underway with no issues and as is so often the case with races some people went off a bit harder than perhaps they should. I found myself at the front but with some company who were with me for the first few hundred metres but then I started to pull away and form a gap. 5k is one of those distances that you think will be over quickly, especially when you have been racing longer distances all winter, but in reality if you misjudge the pace it can feel like a very long way.
The course is well marked with kilometre markers so you know how far into the race you are which can really help with correctly judging your effort. I settled into a rhythm and the kilometres starting to tick by. At the turnaround point I saw that I had a sizeable gap over second so kept my head down held my effort all the way to the end. I was pretty happy with my race, it was a good run out over 5k and I felt relatively strong so training is all heading in the right direction.
I managed to take the win in 15:48 followed home by Richard Skinnard (Unattached) in 16:49 and Rhys Goddard (Vegan Runners UK) in 16:51. The women's race was won by Jenny Gardner (New Berkeley Harriers) in 18:09 with Hannah Pollak (Unattached) second in 19:06 and Nancy Dineen (Unattached) third in 19:11. In total there were 96 finishers. Full results of the second race in the Bitton 5k Series are here.
Well done to everyone who raced and thank you Bitton Road Runners for hosting a great event! Kinisi Run Hub are proud to be supporting such a great event and I can’t wait for the third race of the series in July!
If you are interested in taking part in the next races in the series you can register on the Bitton RR event page here.