BRRC 15km Championship 2nd 55;15

Earlier in the week I had decided not to run this due to some right knee pain adding to everything else. I'd only been able to mange a slow jog on grass most days however a 10.6km run on Saturday convinced me that I was actually still capable of running OK, so I decided to race. I  wanted to continue my series of racing all the BRRC Championship races this year and attempting to set  new age group records in each of the seven championship races.
I was up at 4;30am to make the 6;30am start.
Clay Dawson was backing up from the previous days Brisbane Fast 10km road event where he ran low 33's. Others who raced there decided to use the 15km as a tempo run (Dan James). Dennis Fitzgerald was keeping him company.
Conditions were quite warm  20.3 O C and humidity at 77% - it is only going to get warmer!
I thought I started OK, going through the first K in 3;23 but Clay had already made a significant gap.
I settled into the run and calculated  a running total of where I was in relation to Phil Davies M55 record 57;59 which is 3;51 average K's.
The 3;35 second K certainly made me sit up and realize this was going to be a hard slog.
3;30 for the 3rd K and I thought I would be ok if I could just run steady.
At the turnarounds (x6) Clay was looking good, getting further and further away. I ran through the first lap in 17;49. I was reasonably clear in 2nd but did notice a phalanx of ladies running together looking very impressive (including Kerri Hodge, Brittany Zendler and Olivia Lennon) as well as 3rd place male Kevin Muller.
I went through 10km in 36;30 (18;36) which proved my form has waned over the last few months. On the last lap I had difficulty negotiating the 180's with my foot plant putting pressure on my sore metatarsals, so much so that I would be limping out of the turns with foot pain. At least my knee wasn't sore!
As I approached the finish I noted my average pace had gone up to 3;40 which was annoying but I knew a slight lift and I could bring the average back down to 3;39's. The final sprint very nearly brought about a finish area wretch but I managed to keep it under control.
As I recovered sitting on the wall outside South Brisbane Sailing Club, the sweat dripped off the peak of my cap, I hadn't noticed how warm it was.
I limped to the car and limped for the rest of the day. I am having Monday off as I am still in pain.
Only one BRRC Championship race to go, 5km in November, my target is legend Ron Peters 5km age group record 17;24.

15km race results here

Clay's reaction to setting an age group record and being allowed to race two days in succession and on his wife's birthday

The ladies field was packed with talent

Too many beers

Comparison with the 15km I did in heat of January

Splits comparison

ARRS ranking list M55 15KM my two previous BRRC 15km's are included and my most recent performance should provide a footnote for the men

Check out all the ARRS Vets rankings and single age records here