CHESTER HALF MARATHON – 13th May 2012
Getting up at 6am on a Sunday is not nearly so bad when it’s a beautiful, sunny morning. Having downed the mandatory porridge I was all set. Judith picked me up with Peter, her husband and Don coming along to support.
We started on the race course where there was plenty of room for runners, spectators, loos, refreshment stalls etc.
Apparently they had changed the course this year but as I had never run it I was doing it ‘blind’, although I knew it was pretty flat. There was a slight incline up to 6 miles where we did a loop and you could see the faster runners coming back. The return journey was gradually downhill which suited me fine, good terrain for overtaking. Some people got their own back nearer the end , one in particular when he finally stopped chatting!
I was aiming to get under 1.40 and at about 8-9 miles was ambitious to get 1.35 . I felt pretty good but just during the last mile or so my calves started to cramp and then there was a sting in the tail, a hill coming back into the town centre where the race finished.
I really enjoyed the race, my first half marathon this year. It was very well organised, plenty of drinks and gel stations. The weather was perfect, sunny but breezy. I was surprised when I heard that I had won first LV50. – there’s life in the old dog yet!
Judith was running her debut half marathon and was aiming for two hours which she did – very precisely and was still smiling at the end.
The beauty of having a 9.00 am race start was that we were back by lunchtime feeling very virtuous.
Robert Baker 1.09.25 1st
Nicky Mowat 1.37.28 374 LV50 1
Judith Davidson 2.00.18 1981 LV55 5
Nicky
Excellent! Well done Nicky 🙂