Driving home after the event, my friend and I decided to pick one word to describe completing this year's Folkestone Half Marathon. We agreed on BRUTAL. Here we go...
The day dawned wet and windy. The night before there had been Facebook updates advising a course inspection was taking place at 7.30 a.m. due to flood warnings and the possibility of needing to re-route the race. However, the decision was made to go ahead on the original course. So a small intrepid group of us set off for the coast.
Driving through torrential rain on the M20 did not fill our hearts with joy. Neither did the limited toilet facilities at the start. I was running for Crohn's and Colitis UK (I am a sufferer) and had already taken two Imodium before leaving home. I took a third just to be on the safe side! So off we went to the start.
The first part was OK, sort of inland a little bit. Then we descended to the coastal path and straight into a horrendous headwind. There was a several mile slog all the way along the coast which went on...and on...and on into rain and sea spray. My faithful friends Chris and Phil (to the right of the photo) stuck with me the whole way. We turned inland briefly and did a small loop to turn us round. By this point I just wanted to finish and had abandoned all hope of achieving my sub-2 hour target. "No, you can still do it" I was told above the howl of the wind.
Then the return leg began. Wow - what a difference! With a tailwind pushing us along the pace increased. We had dropped to 9:20ish minute miles on the way out; now we were zooming along at 8:15ish minute miles. However, the tide was coming in the whole time and nearing high tide. This added waves crashing onto the path into the mix. We were now being battered by sea water laden with shingle rather than just spray. Conditions underfoot became treacherous but I was back on a mission to go sub-2 hours. My shoes were full of sea water, heavy and squelchy. A wave hit me in the back. There were some squeals from ladies behind me. I was actually getting a bit frightened now. "Keep to the left!" shouted the marshals (i.e. away from the sea).
Finally were were climbing back to the start/finish area. I had about a mile to go and 15 minutes to do it. There is a short, steep section known as "the sting". I ran about a third of the way up then confess I had to route march to the top. I struggled to get my legs going again and set off for the finish line. No chance of a sprint to the timing mats - I was totally spent and soaked to the skin. But I had done it! Chris and Phil stayed with me right to the end and I don't think I could have done it without them.
We found a couple of our group, one looking very dejected. He had been knocked off his feet by a wave and was battered and bruised. After eating what we could in our goody bags, we headed indoors to race HQ and found the others. We all had horror stories to tell, from the stone in a shoe that turned out to be a massive blister to having to grab onto a bin to avoid being knocked over.
I can honestly say, if I had been on my own and without all the sponsorship I had raised (just over £300) I would have given up on the sub 2 hour target. That spurred me on as I couldn't face the thought of abandoning and re-entering another HM instead.
So here are the vital statistics:
Chip time: 1:55:43
166/459 finishers, 18/169 females, 1/16 V50 Ladies = Winner of my age category.
Thank you for reading my story and it's not too late to make a small donation to my JustGiving page, even £1 would be hugely appreciated. Thank you to those of you from the HU forums who have already donated:
justgiving.com/fundraising/...
And finally, despite some worrying cramps at about the 10 mile mark, I finished the race without a poomergency!
Burghley 7 -rather late race report!
Bournemouth HM - Race Report
Tonbridge Half Marathon Race Report 😁
Swansea half marathon race report
