Race 9 : Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon

Race: Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon

Distance: 13.1 miles

Time: 2 hours roughly

Here we are-the start of the craziest part of this challenge. Four Half marathon (or further!) distances in 4 consecutive weekends. I did not feel ready for this- not in the slightest. I’ve been plagued in recent weeks with increasingly worse pain from Piriformis Syndrome. The one good thing about this horribly painful condition is that it doesn’t bother me at all when actually running- any other part of my daily life however- it is causing me constant sciatica pain around my right hip and down my right leg that is making it a quite literal pain in the butt to be sat on my butt.

The thought of running a half marathon was a very overwhelming prospect. I took myself on a run on the Monday before the race day and ended up running over 8 miles and felt really good and strong… so I had that little bit of reassurance to comfort myself with!

I got myself to bed at 10pm the night before the race (mostly because I had been up until 2am drinking the night before… ever the athlete). The alarm went off at 5:45 am and there was no reluctance at all to get to bed. The adrenaline had me pretty much leaping out of bed and into preparation mode. Alex was not running this race, but was kindly driving me there and just generally being his usual supportive self. We were in the car by 6:30am and halfway into the hour drive I had to prepare and eat my instant porridge in the car. It was hilarious- I have no idea how I didn’t a) scald myself with boiling water from my thermos or B) get porridge all over myself and the car…. Instant porridge is not very tasty nor a particularly good consistency for eating in a moving vehicle with a spoon that was too small.

The drive to the HQ saw us pass the 11, 12 and 13 mile sign posts and in turn had me yelping with nerves. Arghh. I run a LOT (as you probably know by now) but a half marathon never fails to get me to pre-exam level of nervous. The HQ was in a big sports hall and I collected my number and T-shirt without any bother. I had an hour to wait for the start of the race and for once in my life spent a good chunk of that time stretching in preparation.

At about 10 minutes to go I joined the fast moving queue for the portaloos. The marshall who was in charge of ensuring all of them were being used had me in stitches. Every time she found a vacant one she would hold the door open and shout “THIS ONE IS FREEEEE” at the top of her lungs. So much enthusiasm! Alex walked me to the start of the race and slotted me in just behind the 2 hour pace setters. I thought this may be somewhat ambitious as people KEPT telling me about this half marathon was how hilly it was!

The race started bang on time and it was a bit of a slow plod to get over the start line. We did eventually get running and the sun was shining and there were a lot of smiling people out on the streets to see us off. It was a lovely start!

The course itself was surprisingly lovely! It was a road race so I assumed it might be a bit dull, but I could not have been more wrong. The race wound us through some residential streets out of the town onto the country roads. These roads took us through some beautiful countryside and through some of the most beautiful villages I had ever seen. So many beautiful old buildings! The first 4 miles ticked by surprisingly fast. I wasn’t right up close to the pacers but I had them within my sight and I could see they were leading us through the race at quite a consistent sub 9 minute mile pace. I was comfortable and warming my body up slowly- conscious that I still had a mighty long way to go and that it had been a long while since I had ran over 10 miles. Drink stops were nice and regular and I made sure to stop and have a few sips of water and a couple of jelly babies at every opportunity. Mile 5 saw us wind through the streets of Penshurst- which was a course highlight for me. What a beautiful village. The best bit was the brass band that was playing for us as we passed- perfect! Just what we needed.

Soon after the 6 mile marker we started the dreaded climb of Spring Hill- the famous and feared hill that plonks itself right in the middle of the race. It was pretty tough- but nowhere near as steep or difficult to tackle as people had me believe with their pre-race warnings! I managed to run the whole hill- no walking required. I don’t remember much of miles 7-10 , they went by in a bit of a blur but I remember getting to mile 10 and still feeling pretty damn awesome. The climb of Spring Hill had seen the pack surrounding the pacers fall back a bit and I soon found myself running with them with a bit more space.

Once we got to Mile 11 I was ready to leave the bosom of the 2 hour pacer pack and stride off in front at my own pace. I was still feeling good and did not want ANY MORE Jelly Babies- no sirree. The last mile or so of the race was a bit of a bump back to reality. The roads were open and we were running in a narrow bike lane alongside the moving traffic. Slightly scary. I have such a fear of tripping and falling into moving traffic- completely irrational, I know.

I had a little glance at my watch and appeared to be right on track to hit 2 hours (or less!) wah-hoo! Towards the end we passed a pub and one of the punters was cheering us on with a pint glass in his hand. The guy in front of me swiped it right out of his hand and continued running with it. I think he MAY have regretted it slightly as we still had about half a mile to go at this point and it’s not like he could chug it!

Soon- the much awaited 400 Metres to go signs loomed and I got excited and felt the grin spread across my face. Alex was in place ready to snap almost finish line pictures! The FINAL sign of the race was 200M to go and I picked up the pace even more and managed a sprint finish over the line. The race clock said over 2 hours but I am pretty confident that my chip time will be slightly under. As soon as I crossed the finish line I got a telling off by a race marshall for having headphones and was threatened with disqualification. It was meant to be a no headphones race but I decided to take the risk and wear them. 2 hours running without music is a LONG time. I REALLY don’t understand these rules that UKA have put in place- surely it is a runner's decision to take that risk!? No one will be at fault if an accident occurs because someone has headphones in at a race where they were told they were not allowed. Only the person who took that risk / decision will be to blame- surely? Anyway…. It’s just one of those things that makes road racing all the more unappealing now! And it’s a shame as discovering a beautiful road race like the Tunbridge Wells Half marathon has made me want to seek out more.

Next Saturday is the 15 Miles Sussex Maverick. The furthest distance I will have ever covered. Scared much?

#Running #10K #trainrun #girlsrun #race #eventstolive #tunbridgewellshalf #halfmarathon #roadrace