Events Blog

February 28th 2016 Half Marathon Returning to familiar scenery to do a race always has that comforting factor to it. A happy coincidence here was that the Cambridge Half Marathon correlated with Lent Bumps weekend, so I spent the Saturday up and down the river watching Sidney Sussex Boat Club do their thing. Somehow, this amounted to 14 miles of walking, so along with my 2 mile run in the morning this was not quite the "rest day" I had had in mind! I also ended up running a mile or so to the start of the race, not through time pressure but just to keep warm as it was only a few degrees in the morning. The start area was on midsummer common which was spacious and scenic however I was pleased the ground was not wet. After my obligatory two toilet trips I lined up in my pen and waited for the race to start - which it did, nice and promptly. I must have started within five minutes of the gun, which, being the third pen back, I was impressed with. Less nice was the imme...

February 21st 2015 Squinting at the end - backs turned to the impending hail cloud 81 mile Sportive This event was a fairly flat sportive in Huntingdon. The "No Excuses" aspect of it was that you pay an entry fee, but if you turn up and ride, you get your entry fee refunded! Otherwise, it is donated to charity. The organisation was good and the signage impeccable, which is always reassuring. I had a great day, spirits not even dampened (although the car was) by the huge hailstorm as we packed our bikes away. I was impressed that for a free sportive, we still got two great feed stations, plus the standard Wiggle finisher medal and t-shirt. Times Total time:             06:35:00 (Bronze) Moving time:          05:38:00

March 2nd 2014 Cambridge Boundary Run is a race run by the university running club - the Cambridge Hare and Hounds. It is a circular marathon, with a stop at the halfway point for those doing the half. My motivation for entering was threefold: Cambridge is flat, it was cheap (£12) and I needed a half marathon before the Edinburgh Marathon in May 2014. To prepare for this race, I read loads of stuff on the internet, about what foods to eat and when, how to taper and what to wear. I think this caused me to get everything wrong, in future I'm going to stick with what's familiar, even if that means no carbs the night before, a short run two days before and tight lycra! Race day came and I felt awfully nervous and sick, more than ever before. I'm not sure why as I've run half marathons before (although not for a long time) and had done a 13 mile training run two weeks before. Managing just two mouthfuls of toast (which I never normally eat anyway) for breakfast is n...