11 days ago I ran the third of three of the Queen Mother Reservoir 10k races in the series. This was my first and probably last running of this race.

The 10k race is a very very flat two lap race around the top of the Queen Mother Reservoir on trail/gravel path and grass with a small section of tar as you pass the clubhouse to start your second lap.

Things started well for this run. I'd had a good day at work and was in a good mood, full of energy and I felt I had a new personal best (since returning) in me that night. I headed off to the race with plenty of time, but after a few judgement errors in my attempts to avoid traffic I ended up cutting things a bit fine and arrived at the Datchet Water Sailing club with only 10 minutes to spare. Thankfully I was already changed so with my adrenaline levels high, I grabbed my cash and dashed up to the club house, nearly puked as I entered the clubhouse which was really hot and reeked of old chip fat (I'm not a fan of the smell of old grease), paid my entrance fee and headed outside for my hurried warm up.

At 19:30 promptly the 10k runners were sent on their way. Earlier that evening there had been a mighty downpour which left the grass and path very wet with a lot of puddles. It was also quite humid. I started well and soon got into a comfortable pace around about 3:55/km running on the grass alongside the path. I found the gravel path a bit more slippery than the grass. Anyway, I was chugging along nicely and then something happened... I got bored. I lost all motivation to actually push for a fast time and started to wonder if it would have been wiser to run just the 5k.

I think the thing that got to me was this is really a bit of a boring race. It's two identical flat laps with very little in the way of scenery other than the view of Windsor Castle which you could only see from one corner and the undersides of aeroplanes coming and going from Heathrow. There wasn't much in the way of spectators either with sheep being the primary spectators around the course and a few people at the 5k/finish line. There also weren't that many runners in the 10k so company was quite scarce. I was so bored that I worked out that the people who would fill the top 20 places were determined within the first 2km (I was one of them).

Despite my boredom and loss of motivation, I still finished in 16th place (out of 141) in a time of 40:43.

Other than that, a well organised and friendly race, though the smell of grease and then sewerage as you passed the club house wasn't very nice at all.

Don't let my comments put you off this race, this race is probably perfect for those who like nice flat lapped courses. I don't. I've never been a big fan of lapped races and this run confirmed why I don't particularly like them.

I don't think I'll run this race again.