Ambitions: The Hayling Billy 5

I was confident going into this. My legs felt pretty good after the Winchester 10k and I was looking forward to doing my local race for the first time in 5 years, having been responsible for the results service in the last 4 races.

I'd seen the pre-entries and thought I stood a chance of placing quite high. I was definitely up for this one.

It was fun helping with the kids races beforehand. I'd not seen the kids races before as I'd always been stuck in the tent with the computer. I hope we continue to grow this aspect of the race - it looked a lot of fun.

Soon though it was time to focus on my own race. First up, as part of the warm up, was a jog home to go to the loo. It's nice having a race this local!

A quick jog back, a few drills and strides and we were lined up ready to go. My team mate Gina was next to me and on the other side of the track were my other rivals Angela and Paula from Denmead.

The Hayling Billy 5 is named after the defunct Hayling Billy railway line which now forms a footpath up the western coast of Hayling Island. The race is a simple out and back route with a tight turn around a pole at 2.5 miles. It's straight and absolutely pancake flat and with quite a reasonable trail surface it is potentially a very quick course despite the lack of tarmac. The narrowness of the path could cause problems, particularly at the start, but it seems to work quite well, even with 300 runners. Mind you, I wasn't starting at the back!

The gun went and we were straight into our running with a tight bunch of 5 women tucked in behind the leaders. We were heading off at way too high a pace, certainly for me at any rate. I suspected the pace was a tad high for the others too as I've raced them all before and we should have been fairly well matched. I resolved to sit back a bit and conserve my energy as Gina roared off into the distance leaving the red vests of Paula and Angela and the blue vest of a Pompey Jogger just ahead of me. At the end of the first mile I was in 5th as I tried to stay in touch without overstretching myself.

Soon I'd got past the Pompey girl who as suspected had gone off too fast and was having to slow down. I was just behind the Denmead girls and relieved that Gina in first place was not getting too much further ahead - she clearly had had to slow down a touch too. So it remained for the next mile before Angela and I closed on Paula and overtook her. I then eased past Angela to set me up nicely for the turnaround.

You'd be forgiven for thinking this was a women's race but there were men in the race too! It's great to be able to watch the lead runners come whistling past down the other side of the trail as you near the half way mark. I remember seeing James the leader and my team mates Steve and Richard, but that was about it - my focus was totally on my own race and the fact that Gina was still 100m ahead of me.

As I dashed round the pole I don't think I was aware of where Angela and Paula were, although they must have been right on my shoulder - my attention was fully ahead. As I headed back down the trail I was getting shouts of encouragement from my other team mates as I passed them. I should have acknowledged them but I was really taking this seriously!

I was now in a group a 3 men slowly but certainly closing on Gina. I guess they may have had the thought that they couldn't let themselves be beaten by a girl, but this worked for me as I could let them pace me across the gap. At each landmark I'd count my paces to measure the gap: with 1.5 miles to go, 30 paces, a mile to go, 20 paces. I can do this!

By 800m I was on Gina's shoulder and wondering if I should wait and give it all in a final sprint. She made up my mind for me though as she seemed to falter slightly. I gritted my teeth against the pain and went for it. Gina didn't seem able to follow me, but I wasn't going to look back to find out. I could now see the finish line coming up and tried to squeeze out a little more effort.

In a chance conversation I'd had last week, we'd been talking about running ambitions. I'd talked about targets such as the 3:15 marathon and a sub-20 5k, but I remember saying that the one thing I'd really like to do just once in my life was to win a race outright - not 1st in age group, I'd already done that, but the first woman across the line. I'd thought about the possibility of doing it tonight but hadn't dared hope for too much, not knowing what shape I was in after the weekend.

But now, there was the finish line and my dream just 100m ahead of me. I pushed and pushed for all I was worth, threw my arms in the air and crossed the white line, ambition fulfilled. I don't know whether I was aware that there were cameras from the local paper there, but I hope they got a good shot of me - I'll find out on Friday when the report is published. I suspect I'll be down at the newspaper offices to order a copy of the photo!

I was shattered at the end. That was a job well done. 33:40 is a PB by 30s, but the time isn't important. I went off a little quick and suffered slightly, but it was all about balancing the need to pace well with the need to stay in touch with the lead. My tactics were just right and I'm really pleased with that.

Wow! Where next?