The Penicuik 10km

I first ran the Penicuik 10km last year (2022), I won’t lie after little training the course almost killed me. Probably one of the hardest 10km’s there is. The first hill after 1km feels like running up the side of a mountain. That almost finished me there and then. The rest of the course is then very undulating.

I finished with a time of 42:34mins. I could barely walk the next day, and my knee hurt for a couple of weeks. Now I used to be a good runner. The best in my county, and at around 11 years old, probably around top 50 in England. Obviously, this was a very long time ago though. For the past 10 or so years I’d probably run on Sunday mornings and that’s it.

So around February 2022, I decided to get a training program so I was ready for this years race. The program involved running three times a week. This was broken down into one session speed work, one session of 5-10km, and the last session from 10-16km. I joined the Penicuik Harriers, which Tuesday nights were speed work, so that session was already taken care of.

My training during those 3 / 4 months went really well, and I could definitely feel the difference, and my times were constantly coming down. So, by the time May 13th rolled around I was ready.

It was a warm sunny day, and little wind so perfect conditions. It’s a lovely scenic run. The first 1km was nice and easy as you start running down hill before the dreaded hill starts. Got to the top still feeling pretty strong as i managed to take over a couple of runners. The rest of the run I was neck and neck with another runner until the end. He pulled away in the final 1km, and I normally have a strong finish but had nothing left as two runners almost caught me at the end.

I finished 15th, with a PB 39:46mins even though it’s definitely not a PB course. Penicuik Harriers got the 1st Male Team award. I was 3rd, so luckily the other two were very good runners.

The Stirling 10km in September is next, for a proper PB this time.