I had a lot support here when I asked for advice with my first half-marathon. So I thought I'd report in now that it's done and dusted.
I ran the Inverness Half-Marathon on Sunday. I hadn't told anyone apart from my husband that I was running the event. Unfortunately he couldn't support me on the day as he had to return our 10-month old grandson (who had been staying with us for a couple of days) home to Aberdeen. Aberdeen is 2.5 hours' drive away... and he drove the baby by himself. I think running the half was the easier option!
So, I went on my own to the event. I left 2 hours before the start time as I was worried about parking. This seemed like plenty of time, but once I'd parked up, fed the meter, scurried off to the sports centre, queued to register, dropped off my bag and braved the loooong queue for the loos, there were only 10 minutes to spare before the gun.
While in the loooong loo queue, I heard the pipe band marching off, leading the runners to the start line in grand style. So, I missed that excitement, and was quite stressed by the time I eventually got there.
Never mind, off went the gun and I immediately felt better once I'd started to run. The weather was perfect: dry, cold, blue skies and the horrible east wind had finally dropped. The route is lovely - along Ness river, underneath the castle, then out of town through woodland.
I saw a few casualties en route...people with cramps, someone was sick and one poor lady looked as if she'd fallen and banged her head on a wall on the way down. There were plenty of helpers around her so I kept going and hoped she was ok.
We ran into a residential area - one street was brilliant. There were musicians and drummers hammering out an irresistible beat. And lots of children handing out jelly babies - they got excited when a runner stopped to take one, so I took a good few. But I'm a vegetarian and it seemed churlish to ask if the sweeties contained gelatine, so I put them in my pocket. Someone in the Lochardil area of Inverness would have been surprised to discover a whole load of jelly babies in their rubbish bin later on.
Soon after that it was mile 10 and we returned to the riverside to loop home. Tantalisingly I could almost see the finish line on the opposite bank at that point- but we still had to go along the river into the centre of Inverness, cross the bridge and run back up the other side.
We finished with a lap around the outdoor running track and although I felt on my last legs, I spotted cameras at the finish line and managed to pick my feet up for the final few yards in the hope that I would look fresher than I felt for the photos! I was very pleased with 2 hours 20 minutes. Especially as my husband bet me I'd finish in 2 hours 22 minutes!
Apart from tired and throbbing calf muscles in my bed that night - I eventually got comfy by raising my legs on a pillow - I felt ok after the run. And look, what a fine medal!
Written by
Cianalas
Half Marathon
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That is a supremely fine medal - jolly well done!!!! I hope you've told everyone about it now it's done, you deserve many celebrations I love your report too, especially the bit about the jelly babies! Fabulous 👏👏🥇🍰🥂
That race sounds really beautiful. Will there be more half marathons for you after this one?
What a beautiful medal and a wonderful report. Felt like we were right there with you. Huge congratulations!! A great time too. Go tell everyone in town now. You deserve a parade!
Superb first HM and wonderful report! Thanks for taking us with you on your race! Now you definitely need to shout it to the world YOU JUST RAN YOUR FIRST HM WHOOOHOOO!!!!!!!!
What a great achievement! Fantastic time and fab bling! A wonderful report, thanks for taking us with you I know what you mean about thinking you have loads of time and then only just making it And just look at your shiny badge - yay!
Congratulations! What a great time. I really believe that the true test is how you feel afterwards, and the fact that you felt fine is a testimony to all the hard work you put in before the race.
Thank you C3PO. I put it down to following the advice given on here by more experienced runners. I wasn't at all sore the next day. Just really hungry!
That was a great read! Gosh, distribution of jelly babies... I'm moving to Inverness. The route sounds lovely, despite the people throwing up along it YOu're time is excellent - I'll be happy when I finally crack 2h30. Hope you're savouring your success!
I ended up taking jelly babies and water for the same reason as you. My daughters were watching on the route, when I did mine the week befire, and they soon got into the idea of getting high-fives off the runners. Apparently one guy even turned around and ran back when he realised he had missed a high-five from my youngest.
Oh well done, 🏃♀️👏🏅what fabulous bling, a great time too, I’d be mighty proud of that! Orange t-shirts are great, I’ve got two from a couple of 10k runs for muscular dystrophy, I use them a lot, bright enough to be seen, but not dark enough to be a ninja....😂 - I try to avoid all black.....
Congratulations! You ran a half marathon- 13.1 miles - 21km- that's a fantastic achievement! Tell everyone about it! And I love the medal, and the orange T shirt.
Well done! Job done! Fab bling! 😃💪👍🏃♀️ I hope you feel restored by now and your legs are ok. They get over-excited and jittery don’t they 😃They want to keep going 😁
Rest up now. Have a week off and eat healthily. You’ll probably be ravenous 👍
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I love your report too, especially the bit about the jelly babies! Fabulous 👏👏🥇🍰🥂
And just look at your shiny badge - yay!
Fission 2023 race report.
Great Bristol 10k race report 😀🏅🏃♀️
