It sometimes takes a little while to type up a run because of work and other priorities. This time, it was due to sheer exhaustion and a need for a break. Also, is it really OK to count 2.5 laps of a track as one of my “runs”? Well, I make the rules so … yes.

This “write-up” is also partly because I’m starting to scrape the barrel in terms of actually ever running and also because it gives me an excuse – albeit a slightly tangential one – to talk about the FAST5000, which has taken up far too much of my (and Pippa’s) life since 2021.

What started back then as a slightly ambitious mad idea of creating from scratch a national-level athletics track event spun slightly out of control to become an international-level event (though one which also allows top-level club runners to take part) by its third edition. Of course, this was great news but also required great amounts of work, probably more than is sustainable for a small group of volunteers (aided by a large sponsor in 2023).

The basics of the concept is that it’s a “sports spectacle” which brings together athletics fans and the wider public to include high-level running, circus acts, foodtrucks, bouncy castles, beer trucks etc etc It’s hardly an entirely revolutionary concept but it was a new one in France. And, with all that, the FAST5000, an event focusing on 5000m track races was born.

By the 2023 edition, despite insanely hot weather, we still:

• Had 13 runners who ran qualifying times for the World Championships
• Beat the French Mile record for Women
• Got the World Lead time for the Mile
• Had the top 5 men were between 13’04 and 13’06 and the top 5 women between 14’46 and 14’56
• Got 6 national records
• Got the 12^th fastest time ever for a junior woman (she then went on to get 6^th at the World Champs two months later)
• (plus all the PBs for non-elites, who are nevertheless the core of the event)

Apart from the Diamond League event in Paris, this was by far the fastest track event in France in 2023 which, well, isn’t bad.

Of course, the problem with creating a super-fast event when you’re not super-fast is that you can’t take part in it, which was a slight flaw in the plan.

In its first edition, I blagged being a (second, totally unnecessary) pacer for the slowest race (which was still setting off a 3’12/km (16’00 target time) pace) for about 3 and a half laps though that was the extent of my ability.

By the second year, repeated injuries, too much time spent organising it and an increase in the speed of the slowest race (in parallel to a decrease in my speed…) meant that there was no room for me. This was probably a good thing because my body was under enough stress from the once in a decade storm which hit us later that day.

By 2023, we were branching out and including new ideas to get more people along, including a 5x1000m “fun race” for ‘Run Crews’, which is basically “groups with a lot of followers on Instagram”. Them, and a bunch of ringers from the organising committee (including Pippa and me) would form a brief part of the entertainment.

In the run-up, it’s been a while now so I can’t remember which niggle I had but niggle(s) I certainly had so I remember not running for the whole week before. I was also only sleeping a few hours/night because of the workload. On race-day, I was then (figuratively) running around like a headless chicken all day because of a million and one things to do. With about a minute to spare, I put my spikes on, did about 150m of warm-up and squeezed into the call room, just in time to go down the red carpet, past the fireworks and on the track.

Admittedly, I had been on my legs all day (in total, over 100km of walking according to my watch in the previous 3 days) so I wasn’t entirely cold, but most coaches would say that this isn’t the best prep for a sprint race.

While some of the other teams had runners who’d previously run in the French national squad, we had me for leg 1, Pippa for leg 2 (who’d already ran a 3000m that day), Maxime for leg 3 (he’s actually quite fast, though being on Speaker-duty all day, also had no warm up), Emilie for leg 4 (who’d also already done a 3000m) and Marc for leg 5 (who’s probably slightly less fast than me). Basically, we were in a league of our own (and not in a good way).

The gun went and off I went. Within about 50 meters, it felt like I was about 45m behind the rest of the group. I was actually running at under 3 minutes/km for the first 400m which is really not bad and beyond what I thought my abilities were at the time, but clearly not enough! There were, however, still two runners behind me which satisfied by primary goal (not to be last by miles) so I was pretty happy.

The crowd (well, the pressure of being embarrassed at least) kept me moving and the “speed tunnel” and wider atmosphere we put on for the event was actually pretty impactful at keeping me going.

In the end, to my genuine surprise, I handed the baton over to Pippa after 3 minutes and 11 seconds and I was neither last nor second last but third last. Boom!

Less of a surprise was the fact that we didn’t win the relay race. We actually finished last (by quite some way in the end!) though we decided to do the last 100m with Marc to make him feel a little less shit which was a nice way for us to finish the event.

And, as soon as that was over, it was back to being a race director and helping runners beat their personal records, their season records or, in the case of six runners, their national records!

And then sleep. Lots of sleep.

The Dream Team

Scenery

Speed

Difficulty