JP Morgan is a funny old race, it is essentially a glorified parkrun albeit a weird distance yet has the feel of a school sports day. The day got off to a great start with a text from Barts at 7am reminding me that should I fail to beat him I owe him $100 after doubling or nothing our bet from last year.

Race Plan

Stick behind Barts (turns out everyone else in the pack had this same plan)

Pre-Race

Spent 95% of my day at work chatting to Mike Durante and John Wholley about race strategy and discussing the times/positions we were hoping for whilst doing some research into how previous UBS teams have gone (honourable mention to Jeet for some strong runs in the past). Very productive. I wasn’t thinking too much about time focusing more on position and actually being in the race. I thought I could finish anywhere from 2^nd to 10^th depending on how things played out and would have been equally as happy with any position in the top 10 as long as I gave it a crack.

Warm Up

After getting the train down to Bondi Junction then walking to the start it was safe to say I wasn’t the most chatty person around. I tried to listen to what people were saying but I really couldn’t pay much attention to what was being said as I was so consumed by thoughts of the race. Felt pretty good in the warm up which was a pleasant surprise after feeling shocking the past couple of days.

Race

Knowing that most people go out super hard then die at the top of the hill I thought a conservative start was the best option, tucked in nicely behind Barts along with Ben Liddy, Jack Green, Tom Middleton and a couple of other with Matt Hudson being about 10m in front after the first 200m. We cruise up the hill all bunched together and I’m feeling good as we make a right turn, at this point the pace feels pretty slow so I decide to pick it up a little and Ben follows suit. Some poor bloke went out super hard and was only a metre or so behind Matt before the first k so I decide to pick it up again and reel him in as he started to fade.

Still feeling good I realise pretty quickly that I probably don’t have the strength to beat the more experienced blokes in this pack (Barts, Liddy and Tom) or the speed to beat Jack so I made a quick decision to put in a surge into the turn and really fang it down the hill and see what happens. Pre-race plan gone out the window in a second. The whole pack follows but I decide to commit and see how long I can push the pace for.

Coming off the hill back onto the flat the pack is still behind me and at this point Matt has cleared out a big gap in front, I start to wonder if I really could come 2^nd?? Edging towards the 3k mark I still think I could be on for an absolute blinder here then BANG! Tom goes straight to the front in a move which only a formula one driver could make and everyone else follows. I tried to go with it but just couldn’t. At this point it became about trying to run as tough as possible.

Before 4k I could see Barts about 20-30m ahead off that pack and knowing that we had $100 on the line I decided to rinse myself to see if I could make up the distance and pull of the upset. Unfortunately I paid the price for the early pace and Barts even though he looked like he was fading toughed it out. Did some quick maths and realised I was in 6^th which seemed pretty respectable so at this point it was all about consolidation and not letting anyone go past up the hill towards the 5k mark. Only trouble was Mason Cohen was just behind so I was running scared not backing myself in a sprint finish.

Last 600m was a bit of a blur, just wanted to finish at this point. Crossing the line in 17.43 in 6^th place I was stoked, felt like a proper race just the way running should be. Nice progression from last year and good hit out before State 3k and VIC 5k in the next 2 weeks. Happy days.

Really good support out on the course with people yelling out encouragement just when it was needed and lots of awesome runs from everyone made for a fantastic night. Even though I got to bed early I woke up at 3am still buzzing from the race unable to sleep.