Race 20: Weald Challenge Half Marathon

Race: Weald Challenge Half Marathon

Distance: 13.1 Miles

Time: 2 Hours 19 Minutes

Race 20! 2 thirds of the way through - that leaves only 10 more races to reach my target of 30. I am pretty certain now that I am going to exceed my pledge to run 30 races before I turn 30! I will simply keep running until I hit my target of raising £1000. Race 20 fell in the middle of a heat wave of a bank holiday. The sun wasn’t constantly shining but England was doing it’s normal once or twice a year trick of turning on the humidity to MAXIMUM.

I was looking forward to this race as it’s Sister race is where I got the idea for this silly challenge in the first place! The race started in a village not too far from Lewes called Chiddingly. A very small village with a very high percentage of 4 X 4 s and poodle cross breeds of all shapes, sizes and colours.

The race HQ was a small primary school that was bustling with pre-race activity. We arrived very early (for once!) and had a bit of waiting around to do after collecting our numbers. The race started on the road outside the front of the school and followed small flat country roads for a mile or so before turning off road. The terrain was varied with the majority of it following footpaths through fields- including plenty of wheat and barley fields that came up to my hips. There were lots of inchy legs to be seen at the end of this race! The ground was hard and dry and there were definitely a few ankle turns on my part and a fair few tumbles were witnessed, including one lady who was thankfully a little way in front of me who tripped and ended up rolling into a bunch of stinging nettles (ow!). I got to her quickly and got her back up. She was keen for the two of us who were helping her to get on our way but I didn’t want to leave her until she was up and running again!

Thankfully there were also a few wooded and shaded sections in this race and the relief of reaching these sections was wonderful. The air was cool and moist and the ground was soft underfoot.

There were only 2 drink stations during this race. One at 6.8 Miles in and the next at 10 miles in. Alex Slack was very wise when he suggested that I ran with a drink… I finished my entire bottle of water before I got to the first drink station where the VERY friendly and helpful marshalls let me fill it back up again. At this point in the race I felt pretty good, my pace wasn’t anything to write home about hovering at a 10 minute mile average pace with each mile at a different time depending on how many stiles/ kissing gates happened to fall within that mile.

The miles ticked by though and although I didn’t love the race anywhere near as much as I did the Seaford half, I felt good and happy to be plodding along at my own pace. It was a relatively flat race- there were definitely no ‘sting’ climbs to mention and any climbs that there were - were pretty gradual and harmless. At the second drink stop I refilled my water bottle again (mmm, cold fresh water) and got through those last 3 miles without too much bother.

I crossed the finish line at around 2 hours and 19 minutes; hot, sweaty and smiling and was overjoyed to have another beautifully hand made ceramic mug to add to our collection. That- and the free cake really do help to make these races some of the best around!