Johnny Kipps Run 2009

Here are some words about the JK from the victorious Dave C.

After the miserable conditions for last weekend’s Wessex Relay, the bright morning supplied by the weather gods for the running of the Johnny Kipps was glorious. This, together with the dry and distinctly non-slippy state of the black stuff to which this route sticks, was just about perfect.

I had arrived early, an hour before the start with the idea of having a bit of a walk and jog to try and loosen up as I’d been feeling the effects from the previous weekend’s torture right up to the intervening Wednesday. Till then I’d been shambling about doing impressions of a rusty seized up robot, so my plan now was simply to have a fun run.

With about 20 minutes to go, I wandered back to the start to find it was still a lonely place with nobody else around. I was just thinking that either I’d got the wrong day, or I was going to have an incredibly easy race, when hordes of other runners started to arrive. So many, in fact, that it could have been a record turn out and included a number of very welcome participants from other clubs (Crewkerne, Yeovil, Southwest RR and The Kennel Club) foolishly lured to the venue by cunning tales of glory and biscuits.

At the start, this field of a dozen valiant souls set off at a modest pace with Chairman Phil and Martin Le Quick leading out. Listening in to their banter, I perceived I was causing some confusion by not adhering to tradition and haring off at a wholly unsustainable pace – darn it, now I had to make some kind of show.

After I pulled past the leading pair I could hear them behind counting out the gap and goading me to make more of an effort. Trying not to be distracted I didn’t look back but was sure I could hear them pounding along behind all the way to the top of the climb to the first turn where Jackie E was kindly staffing a water station.

I was very surprised not to have been caught by this time and once over the brow of the hill I decided to try a final burst of speed on the start of the downhill leg to give my pursuers what I imagined would be one last test before they inevitably overtook me.

This is when it got a little surreal. While down hill is my favourite and suits me better than some, on this occasion the gravitational assisted boost went well to begin with and then it just kept going and going and going, pretty much all the way to the finish – absolute magic!

Whatever I’d eaten or whatever I’d done to charge the batteries, I wish I knew as this felt like my best ever run. I was over the moon last year but this definitely took the biscuit.