Marlow Half Marathon 2019
November 3rd 2019
Half Marathon
Possibly my last race of the season - I entered this race fairly spontaneously realising it was just 10 minutes away from my aunt's house, where I happened to be staying this weekend. Similar to last weekend, Friday and Saturday had produced very gnarly weather - incredibly strong winds combined with a bit of rain. However, Sunday yet again came around as a beautiful day for racing - circa 10 degrees, no wind and sunny intervals. Perfect!
I started in the 1:30 to 1:50 pen, not knowing what to expect but noting that the only pacer I could see (in the whole race) was a 1:40 guy, who soon shot off at the start. With that target gone, I settled into a nice rhythm to climb up the first long hill. A few undulations followed, with steeper downhills than up, which were fairly agonising on my knee.
Around about halfway I ran past a marshal calling out the places - "10th lady" she shouted at me. Wow, I was not expecting that, just the motivation I needed, particularly as I could see four other ladies not too far ahead. The hill at 7 miles enabled me to pass three of them, and I was to spend the remainder of the race unsuccessfully chasing the last. Thankfully it got a lot flatter for the last three miles which was very welcome. Even more welcome was the 1:40 pacer coming into sight with a mile to go, I managed to scoop him up and stay ahead of him, hurrah!
Ecstatic to finish with a new PB and my first sub-1:40 half on what was a reasonably hilly course. Now to give my knee and leg a well earned break - will be sticking to Parkruns for a bit I suspect!
Half Marathon
Possibly my last race of the season - I entered this race fairly spontaneously realising it was just 10 minutes away from my aunt's house, where I happened to be staying this weekend. Similar to last weekend, Friday and Saturday had produced very gnarly weather - incredibly strong winds combined with a bit of rain. However, Sunday yet again came around as a beautiful day for racing - circa 10 degrees, no wind and sunny intervals. Perfect!
I started in the 1:30 to 1:50 pen, not knowing what to expect but noting that the only pacer I could see (in the whole race) was a 1:40 guy, who soon shot off at the start. With that target gone, I settled into a nice rhythm to climb up the first long hill. A few undulations followed, with steeper downhills than up, which were fairly agonising on my knee.
Around about halfway I ran past a marshal calling out the places - "10th lady" she shouted at me. Wow, I was not expecting that, just the motivation I needed, particularly as I could see four other ladies not too far ahead. The hill at 7 miles enabled me to pass three of them, and I was to spend the remainder of the race unsuccessfully chasing the last. Thankfully it got a lot flatter for the last three miles which was very welcome. Even more welcome was the 1:40 pacer coming into sight with a mile to go, I managed to scoop him up and stay ahead of him, hurrah!
Ecstatic to finish with a new PB and my first sub-1:40 half on what was a reasonably hilly course. Now to give my knee and leg a well earned break - will be sticking to Parkruns for a bit I suspect!
Times
Total time: 01:39:16
Standings
Age category: 5/72 7%
Gender category: 6/183 3%
Overall category: 101/719 14%
Total time: 01:39:16
Standings
Age category: 5/72 7%
Gender category: 6/183 3%
Overall category: 101/719 14%
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