Hey everyone, just a race report from the Manchester Half Marathon on 15/10. Everything went well, the tram was packed with runners on the way there. Wasn't sure I carbed properly but did a good enough job. My main anxiety was not needing the loo, fortunately everything went well that way, used the portaloos there and was all set with about 30min to go found my coral. Temperature was nice, no rain, particularly unusual for Manchester. Another member of the running club saw me in the coral and we talked before the start. We were positioned just about right between the 2 pacers where I needed to be.
I was the 1031st person over the start line, I had no idea if I could sustain the pace I intended for 21k but stuck to it, intending to take it easy in the 1st half and drag my pace up in the second, treating the 10mile point as a mental half way point and using the rest of myself up in that final 5k (3.1 miles). The pace (4:35 per k) meant I would get be doing the 2 fastest 10ks I have ever run, but as I hadn't attempted a serious 10k since the Manchester one in may I wasn't too scared.
So though the start line, for about 2-3k I thought It would be similar situation to the 10k where there is not enough room to overtake easily, it was so for about 3k and then opened up, this was good as I think it helped me calm down in the early stage and keep at my desired pace. After this it was easy enough to overtake people without zig zagging.
Through the 5k mark I was 969th my pace was right at target pace, so I took the next 5k slightly slower as a way of saving it for the end, this might have been a mistake. I didn't notice anyone lagging and felt fine myself like I wanted to go faster but respected the distance and held back. I was approaching unknown territory for a race.
Through the 10k mark I was 953rd. That 1st 10k was fine, I looked at my watch, that's the fastest 10k I've ever run and I feel great, I looked at everyone around me, everyone here just did a 10k nearly 3 min faster than my last one in May and they are making it look easy. Then realised I was right with them 
Around 11k I had my 1st energy gel. Thankyou forum ppl for getting me to test these in training! At some point in the 10-15k section I started to have to put effort in my legs, the 4:35 became something I had to work to keep up rather than a pace I was very comfortable at. Also in this section, the Manchester half is a very flat course, but... there were at least 3 or 4 speedbumps! I was high fiving a few kids at the side of the road also, and people were great stood outside their houses with sweets and water. I had used 2 of the 3 water stations so far, skipping the 1st one and was taking on water thanks to the advice of people on this forum for telling me how it increases injury chance. If it wasn't for you I know I would have suffered a lot harder. I think I had my last energy gel around 15k. Around 13k I noticed people were slowing down and I was slowly going past people, this carried on for the rest of the race. This 3rd 5k was back on target pace
The 15km mark I was 867th, and at 16k I saw the 10mile marker and let myself speed up thinking this is now just a parkrun, that 3rd 5k was right on target also, I think I did my fastest 10k in this half but the splits go from 15k to HM so I don't know for sure (cant be bothered to look on strava yet). I started to see marshals from my running club who really helped cheer me on. Somehow I ended up right behind the person I was talking to at the start and didn't notice - we are in the photo and this was taken at some point in this section 
he overtook me quite easily after my speed burst and went through the finish ahead of me despite starting slightly behind me. I think my breathing was fine, my legs just didn't have a lot more in them so although I sped up at the cheering points, my legs started to remind me there wasn't any speed left. I saw the finish line about 1k away and went for it, which translated to running at about the right pace 
My family had come over to see and they were near the finish line but I didn't spot them. Went through the finish in 797th and 1:37:06
My aim was a sub 1:37 believe it or not, and as its my 1st HM It was a very rough aim so I count that as a success, my pace anded up being 4:36 per k, which is good enough for me . I enjoyed the whole thing, my family said I looked OK going towards the finish even though everyone else looked tired. I think I paced it well, and my cardio is better than my legs at the moment but mainly just enjoyed it all. It felt a bit like watching myself rather than being me, like I was in a control room inside looking at all the controls and feedback dials and connected to my whole body.
I know its fast for a 1st HM but a lot of people on here have much better wava age graded speeds than me and I really respect that. I also have had lots of time and inclination to go running so I have been lucky that way and doing a lot. I looked at the 1st male and 1st female, casually doing 4 back to back 15:00min and sub 18min 5ks 
Going to force myself out on a short slow run tomorrow to wake my legs up. Walking around on them today and yesterday and suddenly a random muscle wakes up from a nightmare screaming! I think for 2 weeks you are high risk of injury, so no speed work for at least 2 weeks.
Thank-you everyone for putting up with me
Virtual half marathon race report
Further race report
Wiggle Manchester Half Marathon 
My 1st half marathon race
