The Harvel 5 is put on by the Harvel Hash Harriers, and from reading all the reviews from 2016, it sells out in record time, and this year was no exception, that said I did manage to secure a place.

This was a local race and only took half an hour to get to the car park (farmers field), once there, it was about a 10 minute walk to the village green in Harvel, where all of the facilities had been set up namely some themed porta-loos, which were named : King Pong, Forrest Dump, Harry’s Potty and the Bogfather. And more importantly a  burger van, and beer tent.

I was pleasantly greeted upon collecting my race pack, and was given a good luck on my first Harvel 5, which was a nice touch, I then found a sunny spot to sit down and attach my race bib and timing chip, it was then a quick use of the loo’s before proceeding to the starting line which was a couple of minutes walk from the village green, and at 2 pm we were off.

The route was fairly flat with some slight inclines but not so much that they were significantly noticeable, and was about a 50/50 mix of road and trail. The weather was now quit hot and you could feel the difference in temperature as soon as you got in any kind of shade, so as the race progressed I tried to keep in the shade as much as possible, and when we got onto the trail and into the woods the coolness was much appreciated.

When I started mile one, I had lined up towards the back of the pack at the 50 minute marker and had in the back of my mind to go out strong as I wanted to get sub 10 minute miles, to keep on par with my training runs, but I feel I pushed a little too hard too early (mile 1, 8.48) as I started to pass a fair few other runners, this I managed to keep up for the first mile and a half, however after this I got a stitch in my side and had to slow down and try to run it off, this was to stay with me for the next two miles, I also managed to choke a few times whilst trying to run and drink – not a pretty site!

At around mile 3.5 there was a small hill, which slowed me down even further, but after this I managed to pick the pace up again and finished with an official chip time of 49 minutes and 15 seconds (Gun Time 50:03).

This was the first race that when I finished  I thought I was going to be sick, I can only assume that this was down to how hot it was, and perhaps not taking in enough fluids, however I didn’t chuck so a good result. I have to say on reflection that this event is one of my favorite events so far, it was well organised, well marshaled and had a great atmosphere, I will be back to this again next year.