Apparently this time last year we were having a heat wave and runners doing the Wilmslow half marathon were being treated for dehydration...not this year!! Try minus 5 degree temperatures and hypothermia instead!
Of the 4800 entrants only 3700 showed up for race day but I think this was partly due to various towns and villages being snowed in as well as ‘fair weather runner’ syndrome.
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| Jumping around like a 'loony'! |
For us hard core runners (and spectators…Matt, Meg and Harry ;o) ) it was a truly Baltic race, with a mega headwind and no chance of us throwing off our gloves and headbands due to overheating. I entered hoping to get a new PB of sub-1:30 which meant running an ave of 6:50ish minute mile, sounds painful right?…yeah it was! After the usual toilet queues (twice) and trying to stay inside for a long as possible, followed by jumping around like a loony to stay warm, much to my spectator’s amusement, we made our way to the start line and swapped headbands* (thanks Michelle!). The loud BANG startled both Meg and I – no idea why as I should have expected it – and so I started the ‘penultimate’ race!
As per usual, I got swept up in the crowds and I think my 1st mile was done in 6:10, but I couldn’t seem to slow down and think this may be due to the fact that a) it was slightly down hill, b) I couldn’t actually feel my feet, c) I felt alright!
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| ...and were off! |
At about 6 miles I got a tap on the shoulder from a fellow female Stockport Harrier, a very experience long distance runner with a marathon PB of sub 3 hours. She told me to hang on to her, I managed this for all of about 2 miles (if that), she was just too speedy and I was in need of fuel. So I ‘wrenched’ the gel from my belt, (need more practice with this) and spent the next mile and a half trying to open it and consume it…not best pleased as it slowed me right down. Anyway, I eventually got the stuff down and made the executive decision to give my other 2 gels a miss as it would slow me down too much – lesson learnt, I NEED to practice with these gels before the big day!
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| Michelle and I, happy its all over! |
The last 2 miles nearly killed me due to the headwind, I think the only thing that kept me going was Matt, Meg and Harry screaming at me and the sense that there was another female Harrier on my shoulder who I was determined to beat (for once), and I did – YAY J
I finished in 1:29:19, and we won the team prize, that’ll do!
*my head is too small for my headband and Michelle said my purple one matched her top so we swapped (hers was Velcro and adjustable).
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