Race 14: The Devizes Half Marathon
Race: The Devizes Half Marathon
Distance: 13.1 Miles
Time: 1 hour 56 minutes and 11 seconds
Oh what a lovely sunny weekend it was! It was completely unexpected but the weather decided that it would be glorious for one teasing weekend in early April. Alex and I drove to Wiltshire the evening before the race to spend some time with my Auntie, Uncle and Cousins who were kindly putting us up for the night prior to the race. It was a lovely evening of catch ups and we did manage to show some self control and not drink too many glasses of wine. We also managed to get to bed nice and early to ensure we were well rested for the following day.
We woke up to a beautiful sunny Sunday- and got ourselves ready to go. We got a lift out to the green in the centre of town where it was all kicking off. The race had a really nice village fete style vibe and we enjoyed stretching in the sunshine on the slightly damp grass before we were herded into the only shady corner of the green to start the race. Brr, it was chilly in that shade but there was a great atmosphere as we all huddled together in amongst the plentiful pacers. I was feeling a bit too confident I think as i slotted myself in between the 1hr 50 pacer and the 1 hour 55. Alex disappeared off into the crowd somewhere further ahead and soon we were off and on our way. The race lead us out of Devizes town and out into the countryside. It was a road race that had us running on the side of not too busy country roads- through numerous little villages and a lot of gorgeous Wiltshire countryside. It didn’t take long at all for the temperature to heat up- particularly because there was very little shade to be found on this course! As I’ve been a little slow in writing this up I can’t remember the course in much detail but I can tell you this much:
It was HOT HOT HOT
I was way too cocky starting where I started (expecting to finish under 1 hr 55)
The views over the Salisbury planes were both beautiful but also disheartening at times as you could see for miles (including where the roads were leading to… more roads)
I actually began to understand why the UKA has banned headphones from it’s races- some people are absolute IDIOTS - weaving into roads without looking or thinking about the traffic.
A guy had a really cool slogan on his t-shirt which I really approved of “If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together”
Overall I think the sun and the heat was such a severe shock to my unprepared and un acclimatised body that the second half of the race was a real struggle. I had to allow myself a few stints of walking while i doused myself in cups of water. It’s a shame as I really did start strong (maybe a little too strong) so when i felt my strength fade away and give way to feelings of dizzyness because of the heat it was pretty frustrating and disheartening.
As always- as soon as the finish line was in sight I got a sudden burst of energy and found myself sprinting the final lap of the green to overtake another runner before crossing the line.
I found a nice patch of grass and plonked myself down while my Aunty and Uncle bought us both a much needed Calypso ice lolly. That ice cream man must have made a fortune that day- he can probably retire for the rest of the summer.
Despite the fact I found the second half of the race a real struggle I still managed to get a new PB for a half marathon. Well and truly breaking the sub 2 hour barrier with a time of 1 hour and 56 minutes (and 11 seconds). Yay- I’m happy with that I am! I don’t want to tempt fate too much but I really would love to run a 1 hour 50 half marathon before the year is out… we’ll see!
