I have a goal to run four 10K races in 2026 and this morning I ran the first. It was the Taunton Trail 10K which takes place, unsurprisingly, in Taunton in Somerset. The race is run along the banks of the canal and river and so is very flat which appealed enormously since most of my runs usually involve some hills.
My experience of races is limited and, apart from parkruns, I have only ever done one other race, The Christmas Cracker which I did back in December, and this was a smaller event with maybe 132 runners taking part in the 10K (and about the same for the half marathon) vs. maybe 2,000 for the race in Weston-super-Mare.
Car parking was provided at the race HQ, Taunton Rugby Club, and registration was really quick and simple. There was then a bit of nervous hanging around before the race briefing (which was mainly telling us that there would be loads of marshals, about the food and drinks stations and to be careful on the tow paths) and then we were off.
And this was my biggest mistake and also possibly my biggest success. During the race briefing I’d been close to the front to make sure I could hear but that left me very close to the start line and much closer than I felt comfortable with considering how many faster runners would be behind me waiting to get past. So when we started I made an extra effort to get going and maintain a reasonable pace which felt a bit faster than I would have liked but not too arduous. The net result was that a few minutes later my Garmin watch told me that I’d run the first kilometre in 5:30. To put this into context, my parkrun PB is 31 minutes which is a pace of just over 6 minutes per kilometre and my goal was to run the 10K in 70 minutes, a pace of 7 minutes per kilometre. I decided to slow down a bit.
The second kilometre was done in 5:48. Kilometre three was 5:53. I was slowing down to a more sensible pace but I also realised that I was heading towards a sub-30 minute 5K which was one of my big goals for 2026. Kilometre four was 5:55 and kilometre five was 5:51. I know I’d achieved it but didn’t get a final figure until the end of the race which turned out to be 28:57!
But by now the heat and effort was getting to me and the next five kilometres passed a bit more sedately and I slowed and walked for brief parts of each one to help lower my heart rate and cool down a bit. But even with the reduced pace (and stopping for water at a 6km food station) I ran 10k in another new best of 1:02:50, a pace of 6:17 per kilometre.
The race itself is a little over 10K and my final, official race time is 1:06:49:
I’m really pleased with my result and the results my watch recorded and the Strava summary makes me very proud of how far I’ve come. A year ago I wrote about how I was now a runner and said, “And today I finished my 25 minute run at a pace below seven minutes per kilometre for the first time which gives me hope of maybe achieving a sub-35 minute 5K.” I’ve come a long way, literally and metaphorically.
And the end of the race was great too. After the Race Director high-fived us as we crossed the line we were given a beautiful medal and there was also an incredibly well-stocked refreshment station at the end where we could all grab a drink and some sweets, fruit, cake and other refreshments.
It was a great local event and really well organised and I’ll be doing it again, and maybe the half marathon version too. And I will also be looking at other Prosper Events races too on the basis of how great this event was.