The Cabbage Patch 10 is a race Graeme Miller knows well, having ran it on several previous occasions. In fact, he set his 10 mile PB of 58:07 there back in 2014 so he knows it’s one that bring out the best in him.

The race HQ is in Twickenham and is almost as old as the London Marathon, providing a great platform for runners of all abilities to go for a quick time.

Previous winners of the race include Mo Farah and Scott Overall and it was the course that Richard Neruker set an all-time British 10 mile record of 46:02 at in 1993. All were given the much coveted cabbage as their prize.

The route of fast and flat across roads and towpaths, starting in King Street, Twickenham and crossing the River Thames and Kington Bridge and Richmond Bridge. The course then runs along the riverside, finishing on the drive in front of the York House Civic Building in Twickenham.

The standard of the race is generally quite high, attracting a field of around 2,000 people and usually featuring some quality runners from the London area.

Having run a sub-60 in the race last year, Graeme was hoping he’d be able to somehow pull it out the bag again this year. When the day of the race came around it caught the tail end of Storm Callum and the forecast didn’t look too good.

Fortunately there was a small break in the weather whilst Graeme was racing which he was grateful for. His plan was to go out at sub-6-minute-mile pace and see if he could hold on.

In the first mile though, he found it tougher than it should have been and he could only managed two sub-6 miles before his pace dropped. He then that it wasn’t going to be his day but he still managed to slog it out well for the remainder of the race.

Crossing the line in 1:01:13, Graeme finished in 30th position in the overall standings, so although it wasn’t quite the time he was looking for, it wasn’t an altogether disastrous outing. Especially when you consider that 1,422 people completed the race, so to get top 30 in such a large field is a still a good achievement.

It’s frustrating for Graeme as he keeps finding himself a couple of minutes off his best form at the moment at the moment. He’ll certainly on fighting to get back there though and once he starts his London Marathon training next year, that’s when he should see his performances take an upturn.

This year’s  race was won by Emile Cairess of Leeds City AC in a time of 51:14, with Scott Overall taking 2nd in 54 minutes and Christian Pryor of Sale Harriers Manchester finishing 3rd in 55:04.