During the course of 2018 I've PB'd at every distance up to a marathon at least once. For the final two months of the year I'd be finishing with a 10K at Rockingham, and a half marathon at Milton Keynes. It seemed unlikely I could PB at the 10K distance, even if it's most certainly a PB course.

Since my last 10K at Thoresby, another SBR Events race, I'd had very little time to get more 10K training in. In truth, they were probably a little too close to each other but I absolutely had to do Rockingham10. The owners of this speedway had recently sold the property and would be re-purposing the grounds. This would be the final running race to take place here. I had to do it.

Unusually for races, this one didn't start until 13:15, and at only forty minutes away from home I didn't have to leave out too early. I'd had breakfast, done some tidying around the house, and then made my way there without having had lunch.

Traffic hadn't been good, and I arrived a little later than planned. I quickly collected my number, and saw both Ash and Carmen - two #ukrunchat and also #visorclub runners who were pacing the 10 miler. The rain there wasn't as bad as at home, and it wasn't as cool as I expected - I actually had reason to use the bag drop for a change so I could leave my hoodie behind.

Unfortunately I missed the race briefing as I couldn't hear it - instead of going inside the room there were too many people hanging around the door. Fortunately with a race like this it doesn't really matter - the course is pretty self explanatory. The instructions were repeated at the race start anyway, so no problem.

The 10 mile runners set off first, and then the 10K and 5K runners started to make our way over to the start. At this point I turned my watch on ready to give it time to get a signal, but whilst waiting for the 10 mile runners to pass it'd gone sleep and I'd not noticed. This meant when the countdown to the race start began I hastily turned on my watch and had to start it before it had gotten a GPS signal. I've not made that mistake for a while - I should be more careful.

I wasn't sure how that would affect my watch tracking progress, so was unsure how accurate it'd be until it had a signal. I started off quickly and settled in behind a hand full of runners going at sub-6:00/min pace. After a short straight and a turnaround before going down onto the course that would be used for the laps. Once making it into this I slowed my pace to a little slower than 06:00/mi and decided I'd stick around that for as long as I could. I could see three runners in front of me, and had no idea how close the rest were behind me - I didn't want to look back. This was one of those rare races where nobody passed me from start to finish - those in front had always been in front.

Soon the course moved on into the inside circuit and I could see 10 mile runners ahead. In fact, I was about to pass a few and had lost sight of the 10K runners that were ahead of me. I passed the water station, having decided I didn't need any in weather like this - it'd been spitting with rain so I didn't feel I needed any.

At the 1 mile mark I checked my watch again, and found I'd finished in 6:02. Too fast. If I carried on like that'd I get a 5K PB but I'd run out of steam before reaching 10K. I started to slow and aimed for around 6:20/mi as I couldn't remember what pace I actually wanted.

I'd not raced at this venue with such perfect weather before. Even the rain had stopped, and it looked like everyone around me was having fun. I eased off the pace a little more and during the 2nd mile I passed a 10 mile pacer I knew.

"There's water coming up in a second if anyone wants some," he shouted behind him.

"Nah, I'm good thanks," I joked as I overtook his group.

Not long after this I'd finished 2 miles, and wasn't far off returning to the outside circuit. One of the 10 mile runners I overtook commented that he thought I was in fourth position - this encouraged me to maintain my pace.

I passed another water station without stopping - they seemed so frequent that I knew if I wanted some later I'd be okay. This outer circuit was the bit where in previous years I'd come across strong winds. There was some about, but nowhere near as bad as previously - I couldn't believe how perfect the conditions were for this race. I felt a little disappointed in myself for not having trained enough for this beforehand.

Before I knew it I'd completed three miles and was running passed the pits to begin the second lap. My mind flashed by to the RunThrough race I'd done in the summer, and I thought that psychologically, this race should be the easier one with only two laps. I just had to keep on going.

When I hit four miles I looked at my watch and figured as long as I did two seven minute miles I'd be okay - I should be just under 40 minutes. I'd not thought however that as I was passing more and more 10 mile runners I'd have to weave more, so would need to cover more distance, and that my watch hadn't been recording at the start. Thinking of this lulled me into a false sense of security that made me believe I could ease of a little more - take it easy so I could finish strong. Again, I was wrong.

Around the end of my fifth mile a marshal told me I was doing incredibly well. I smiled, thanked them, and kept going. I think maybe I'd adjusted my pace a little as a result - but not enough. I could now see how much I'd got left to run, and it seemed more than I expected.

I reached six miles just before the last bend, waved at @mutley6969uk again, and started to speed up for the pit straight. I hit 10K before crossing through the barriers, so upped my pace a little more. I was catching up with one of the 5K runners that was about to finish so sprinted at the last minute to catch up with them as I crossed the line.

I finished 4th out of 259 finishers for the 10K, with a time of 40:15. It's a minute slower than I'd have liked if I'd managed to get the training in; but as it was, only fifteen seconds slower than I'd wanted in preparation for the half.

Amanda from SBR Events was there at the finish to congratulate people, and pointed the way to where the medals were being handed out. I collected the medal, a bottle of water, a banana and a packet of crisps. This was it - this was the last time I'd ever run at this venue. It'd been an enjoyable event - a worthy sendoff to the speedway.