I won. What more is there to write? I’ve never won a race in my life. Not ever. Not as a youth, not as an adult. So if you’ve arrived at this page expecting a full report on the runners and riders of race three of the Tour of Bournville then you may be disappointed. Instead there’ll be plenty of self-congratulation and discussion of my astonishing performance. I bet you can’t wait.

Race three is a good one. Dead flat along the canal from Kings Norton to Selly Oak and back – circa five miles. It’s a staggered start as well with three groups going out five minutes apart to avoid congestion and to provide the enjoyable spectacle of all the runners of all abilities finishing close together.  I recall last year’s race when Dean, Andy and I stayed close for the first half until Dean powered ahead. This year it was Sean (occasionally sporting a Spiderman mask!?), myself and the ever improving James who stayed together almost to the end.

I lead from the start in an attempt to push the pace and tried pushing on a couple of times to see if I could leave them behind but generally to no avail. James drifted slightly as we got towards the finish with Sean and I shoulder to shoulder with 400 metres to go. I decided to push and just kept pushing, hoping that Sean didn’t quite have enough. And so it was that I won my first ever race by a short distance. 

Of course I’ve only taken about 10 seconds out of Sean’s already significant lead and I could do without James getting any closer on my back. But overall there was real pleasure in winning – more please.

As usual Sally was first back for the women followed by Marianne. I’ve not seen the full results from tonight’s race but there’s an interesting battle emerging between Laura, Maggie and Sarah for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place (Marianne missed a race so can’t qualify). There’s been a few absences in the men’s race so I haven’t quite worked out yet how that battle is turning out but we’ll know after the results are in tonight I think (again, Andy and James will miss races so won’t be in the final running)

Tomorrow it’s cross-country, 4 miles. The questions for me are: Is Sean weakening? Can I take him again? Will it matter given he’s still over a minute ahead overall? Will the route be again partially blocked off by Firemen playing with hoses as it was tonight?