Race Report - Great Eastern Half Marathon - 15 October 2006

Woke up yesterday morning and the first thing I did was check the weather! All looking good, a bit dull and not much sign of the sun… not what you would usually hope for on a Sunday morning!

Rhona walked round and we picked up her friend, Lindsay, on the way. David was making his way there with his parents but we met up at a designated meeting place.

Trying to put all thoughts of whether we had done enough to get us through the run we made our way to the area marked out for our intended finish time. Rhona and I had decided that we would start together and I was to go on if she came off the pace. Lindsay was running her own race and as soon as the gun went off, so did David!

It was a bit of a start-stop at the beginning as everyone paused slightly over the starting line to set their watches off – even though we had been given chips to wear. Mind you, I was no different, lol, and was wearing Steve’s watch as it had the function for mile split times.

After half a mile or so, the crowd had spread out. On a street corner a jazz band were playing which was great and there were a lot of spectators clapping us on. After a mile Rhona dropped back. I kept my pace and around the next mile or so, I overtook Lindsay.

There was a water station at Mile 3. I grabbed a bottle, had a sip but mostly used it to cool myself down. Even though the sun wasn’t out, it was quite warm and humid. I had taken 5 jelly babies with me and around this time I had the first. I still felt like I was going okay, stretching myself but running just so I was able to breathe without too much of a struggle – not like many around me who were already puffing and panting (something I was to experience much later, lol).

My friend Sue and her son Jack were marshalling around the 6-7 mile mark and this is just about where I started to find it a bit harder. My breathing was still okay but my legs, especially my quads, were really tightening up. This then alternated between my quads and my hamstrings…. my toes were also feeling a bit sore but I managed to obliterate that thought, as my legs were taking up all my attention.

Steve and my daughter were just past the 7 mile marker and I realised by the time I got there, that I was on schedule for under 2 hours! I was ahead of expected time so Steve and Ashleigh nearly missed me!

I took on water at all the following water stations, tipping a bit over me and filling up my own water bottle to keep me going. I was getting hotter and hotter and my legs were getting heavier and heavier…

Very conscious that I needed to keep pushing it to stay under the two hours, I tried to convince myself at the 8 mile marker, that the next 5 miles were my usual training run and forget about the previous 8. It didn’t work very well but it gave me something to think about, lol.

By the time I got to 10 I knew that within 30 minutes it was all going to be over. Mile 11 came and went, Mile 12 marker was a welcome sight. My legs were now so very heavy and I needed every bit of strength and willpower to keep pushing it, I knew I had slowed down a bit from Mile 8 and it wasn’t sure I had done enough to still be under the 2 hours. As I ran I asked myself whether I was running as hard as I possibly could and if I finished in over two hours would I be disappointed in myself, could I have gone any faster. My answer was that I was doing all I could to keep moving forward, it was 100% effort – I was even grunting at this point!

I knew there wasn’t much further to go – all around me I could hear 2 hours… 2 hours… obviously everyone else was also well aware of the time. We crossed the road and went onto a pathway which led to the Embankment where the race ended. Unfortunately, I missed the 13 mile marker so still wasn’t quite sure how much more we were to run once we got on the Embankment.

Steve, Ashleigh and my other friends were waiting on a corner and with encouragement from Steve that the end was not far, keep going and you’ll be under 2 hours spurred me on.

I turned the corner and could see the finish about 200 metres ahead with the clock above it. It was going to be sooo close… I don’t know where the energy came from, I just knew that I would be gutted if I missed out by a few seconds. I dug deep and made one last determined effort to get over that finishing line.

I was deliriously happy but felt dreadful – I couldn’t catch my breath, it was like I was having an asthma attack! Luckily, the funnel was quite long and wide, so I just stepped to the side and rested there for a minute or two. I really felt quite emotional and my eyes kept welling up, I was still trying to breathe properly taking deep breaths in and out. I’m just glad no-one I knew was around as I would probably have started weeping and wailing!

By the time I found Steve and Ashleigh I had recovered, or at least got control of my emotions. David was already there, exhausted. He had run it in 1:50.00. Lindsay ran a time of 2:08:08 and Rhona was 2:11.00.

I was absolutely shattered, I had pushed my body above and beyond what was expected of it. My head throbbed and my stomach felt very queasy. My legs hurt, my toes were sore and I had very sore skin where my bra strap had rubbed but none of that mattered – I had just run my first (and last?) half-marathon in under two hours!!!

I crossed the finishing line in 1:58:38!!

Splits:

Mile 1 – 9.24
Mile 2 – 8.10
Mile 3 – 8.13
Mile 4 – 8.39
Mile 5 – 8.30
Mile 6 – 8.55
Mile 7 – 8.59
Mile 8 – 9.03
Mile 9 – 9.24
Mile 10 – 9.34
Mile 11 – 9.30
Mile 12 – 9.35
Mile 13.1 – 10.16

Thanks everyone for your support!