Story added: 19th July 2016

Piers Arnold details where to push, where to conserve energy and, most of all, how to enjoy it...

City of Norwich Athletic Club’s Piers Arnold finished fourth at the inaugural race last year, crossing the finish line with a time of 33:01. In his course preview for runnorwich.co.uk, Piers – with one eye on beating last year’s time – details where to push, where to conserve energy and, most of all, how to enjoy it…

The Run Norwich 10k last year was a fantastic event. I love running around Norwich and for me the best thing about the race was being able to run through the beautiful city streets with closed roads and a large crowd. I will hope to improve upon last year’s fourth place this year but this may depend on the competition (see Run Norwich’s article on the main challengers here). Below, I break down my thoughts on the course kilometre by kilometre.

1km    Take it easy on the first few corners and don’t worry about who is around you, watch your footing on the cobbles down Gentlemen’s Walk and make sure you don’t go off too fast.

2km    This will be a fast kilometre and a busy one. Be prepared to see a lot of spectators watching on St Stephen’s Street – this tends to make me want to run faster but try not to. Just get into a rhythm and make sure you are not going too fast.

3km    This is the fastest part of the course and King’s Street is a good road to run on. The guys at the front will be running this kilometre in under 3 minutes so make sure you don’t go too mad: there is still a lot of the race left! (p.s come back here after the race for some nice cafés by the river.)

4km    The home of the Canaries, Carrow Road. This part of the course is flat and fast with a few tight turns. I will be looking to have controlled breathing and a good pace, hopefully within a pack of runners.

5km    If you have any friends in the race this might be a good opportunity to see them as you pass on Koblenz Avenue. You can also be thankful that we are not going up Rouen Road this year! The run through Riverside will be quite busy so if you have any supporters this may be a nice place to watch from.

6km    Halfway through the race and we meet a big hill (Rose Lane) that goes up sharply at the end. Make sure you don’t push it too hard yet, just try to get into a rhythm and get to the top comfortably. Try to remember that this is here and it will help you to not go too fast for the first 5k.

7km    This kilometre is from the bottom of Prince of Wales Road to the Great Hospital on Bishopgate. I will probably start to feel tired here, as long as I am not slowing then I know I can make it to the end.

8km    This is where I would tend to pick up the pace, hopefully the first 7k have not been too difficult and I have a bit left in the tank. Gradually increasing the pace and testing the strength of those around you will give you a good idea of who you can beat.

9km    I’m going to start feeling pretty tired at this point so don’t worry if you do too. Luckily Magdalen Street is pretty flat so I can just concentrate on my breathing and try to hold this pace to the end.

10km  There is a sharp hill just before the finish. Last year I remember feeling very fatigued coming over the top. At this point give it everything you’ve got and try to overtake a few people before the line.

I did a practice run on the course where I tried to run with a constant effort, I have uploaded it to my Strava page so you can see how the course profile affected my pace.

I’ll see you on race day. Piers.