A fairly standard Manchester morning. Leaden skies, drizzle turning to rain turning to drizzle. A little cool. Very light wind. Masses of people everywhere.
Up at 7am. Well, 7.10am. Tummy still full of Lahra’s home-made macaroni cheese, done specially for me. Kit on. I’m wearing my favourite shorts and thin, long-sleeved top, my Salmon hydration vest and the charity vest which literally arrived yesterday. Long compression socks (needed) and my faster, Brooks Launch 6s.
Remember the anti-chafe plasters. Forgotten the anti-chafe creams. (This becomes important later...)
Banana, slurp of water, out the door just after 7:30am and L takes me by car to get the tram from Altrincham to Trafford Bar and a wet walk up to the start pens. The trams were packed to capacity.
I’m in the penultimate pen (“slow coaches who might just keep going”?) and we eventually find it...only for L to recognise a friend and her 17 year old daughter who does babysitting for L’s daughter. Among thousands of runners. (This sort of thing happens whenever I’m out with her and I’m slowly getting used to it.)
The rain is coming down quite hard. I keep my running waterproof on and the water dripping off is slowly soaking my shoes. I discuss with L how I meant to bring a bin bag or a clear disposable cape...which I have in my car and L remembers she has some in her’s too.
Saying my goodbyes to L, I chat to her friend and daughter and we compare our ambitions for the run. I’m hoping to get close to 2:30:00, ideally below but realistically not - someone lovely has completely disrupted my training, which is brilliant.
My wave is the 6th to go and we get to cross the start line at 9:33am, I remember to start my Garmin and I’m off. First k in quite persistent rain, so I keep my jacket on. After this the rain eases a lot and I’m getting hot, so I disrobe, shake off some of the water and bunch up the jacket to run with it in my hand for half a k. This soon gets boring and I tuck it inside the Salmon vest on the side opposite the water bottle I’m carrying. I look like Les Dawson’s old woman!
My plan had been to take a gel on approach to the first three water stations - roughly 35 mins apart - so I had written the distances on a post it note ready to copy onto my arm. Oops. Forgotten. Instead I take gels after each station and use the water I’m already carrying to wash them down.
The crowds were good. Not massive but keen and supportive. Lots of youngsters wanting high-fives, lots of people offering jelly babies or other sweets, even some carrot cake (missed it!) and lemon cake (didn’t miss it and it was delicious).
Up to about 12k I was feeling really good. From there I was tiring. I took a Reon caffeine powder and kept going. I was soaked with rain and sweat and generally feeling fairly uncomfortable.
By about 15k we hit some “hills”. These were roads going over railway lines or canals, some long and relentless, some sharp “up and down”. They hurt. I was determined to keep going and ran every step but I went from about 90 seconds up on pace to just behind by 17k and, with that, my stamina started to drain.
Jelly babies to the rescue, more chugs of water, keep going keep going. But I knew my ideal time wasn’t happening today.
A woman ahead of me was Jeffing the whole run. As I was breathing hard I noticed she would run off ahead; walk; hear me looming behind and start running again. It really p’ed me off, to be honest, but it clearly worked for her.
I did enjoy the variety of loud leggings and socks, one or two particularly nice derrières and some impressive pony tails. Get your motivation where you can!
Nearing the end, energy really low, glad to be almost over. I spotted what I thought was the finish line time clock up ahead of me but, as I got closer, it was just a Transport for Greater Manchester sign. Drat.
The finish came and I was relieved. Nice applause and cheers on the final stretch; good coordination across the line, get a medal and wander as directed into the “athletes’ village”. A space blanket would’ve been really welcome but there seemed to be none.
Moments after I crossed the line I got a text confirming my official time - 2:36:54. About 1k slower than I’d hoped but my second fastest Half according to Strava.
No finishers goody bag, no shirt. But lots of people with pints of beer. Erdinger had their Alkohol Frei cans, branded as “isotonic recovery drinks”, and it was delicious nectar.
I try to send L a message to tell her I’ve finished and I’m heading for the trams to come home...but my phone (and every article of clothing I’m wearing) is soaked and I can’t unlock it. Eventually I manage and join the huge crowd at the tram stop. We all pour on to the tram as one and have a most uncomfortable, sweaty journey back to Altrincham.
I was home by about 1pm and in a hot, Epsom Salts bath that L ran for me shortly after. Ouch. Major chaffing from wet shorts!
So. That was an experience. My first organised Half Marathon.
My take home is I prefer running 10k (but don’t really see the point, for me, of entering races for this distance). I’m doing the Wilmslow Festive 10k to support a VRB but I don’t think I’ll do more of them. 10 miles is about my “natural limit”, and I’ll try to keep this distance in my legs.
I was disappointed with my time initially. But talking to L about it, I know I could’ve gone faster with better training over the last few months...but that would’ve been at the expense of time with her. I’d not swap those 7 minutes for our relationship and my current happiness.
Half Marathons are hard work. They are certainly less than half as hard as a full marathon, and I know I’m nowhere near even thinking about one of those. I keep looking at the 100k, 2 day “Race to the Stones”. And I’ll just keep looking!
But Half Marathons are do-able. Do the training, plan your hydration and fuelling, just run. And it’s certainly going to be a while before I try one again.
I’m in that chilled after-glow and the world is fine. Enjoy your next run.
Written by
Jay66UK
Half Marathon
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Congratulations to you Jay66UK on completing the Manchester Half Marathon, there was someone else on this forum who ran it, can't remember who, well done, that is bad that there was no goody bag at the end or T shirt, at the Great Scottish Run two weeks ago, there was a goody bag and T shirt for everyone who ran both the 10K and HM, was there no 2 hour 30 minute pace maker? if not that is a disgrace.
All the attention today has been on our friend Flick, she ran the Oxford HM today, but we have not forgotten you, once again congratulations, nice to see the word Half Marathon next to your username. 😊 🏃🏾 🎓
Well done especially in those conditions. Tomorrow, you will forget all the pain, the challenges and you'll be on a high! Bask in all the glory. Dine out on it for weeks.
And then, sign up for another one. There are no limits, only yer head. 👏👏👏
Great effort in the rain. I've been really lucky with the weather in my events and only got soaked once but got blown dry when the rain stopped so finished reasonably dry. You should be really proud of finishing and don't worry about the time - you are a lot faster than me!
Great work Jay. Finding life and running balance is important and you've done it! Enjoy your time with L and run what you can. When (if) the time is right, maybe you'll run another one. You know you can train for it and run it and that is what counts.
Terrific write up Jay, and massive, massive congrats on your first ever HM! 👏👏👏💪🥇👍
Your time was a lot faster than mine last week, and in much worse weather conditions, so again congrats are due! 👏👏👏 (you swine, you 😂)
I remain a bit baffled about the chafing issue... no idea why, but I have never had any chafing problem whatsoever, so whatever I’m doing, I guess I’ll just keep doing it 🤪
Have to say, I do like 10K races, they are relatively short and keep me focused on my training, so I’ll continue to do one every month or so during Spring/Summer/Autumn. But each to their own, hey? 😀
I agree that HM still seems a bloody long way, and (while I am considering another one in the near future to try to improve on my disappointing Cardiff time) not something I would want to do too regularly. And yes, full marathons are clearly only for the clinically insane 😉😂
The immediate challenge for all of us I guess is to keep the running going through the winter months, ahead of more races in the new year. But to be honest, that’s for tomorrow...
...today just enjoy the moment and bask in the glory of your first ever HM! 🥇
PS Just seen the comments re pacers. Yes, absolutely, they should be there. At Cardiff there were loads, including one for 2:45 and another for 3:00, so they catered for us slowcoaches!
Haha. That report made me laugh. There was a lady jeffing the Coast HM I did in April - she thoroughly p'ed me off for the same reason! And then your motivational tips - brilliant (swishy ponytails p' me off as much as the jeffing lady but I have no problem checking out clothing and derrieres - glad it's not just me 🤭). But what I like most about this post is just how chilled and happy you sound. A delight to read 🙂
Great race and report Jay! Life balance is most important - and so is enjoying your running - you seem to have met both goals. Good luck with whatever comes next and heres to less chafing!
Fantastic Jay. I think you've got your priorities right 👍 Enjoying your running but making room for your lovely lady too. Perfect. That looks like an impressive time from my couch 😄
Great run and a great report. I had heard people at the start saying there was no t shirt, which I hoped was wrong as it is kind of disappointing given all the hard work that goes into getting to the end.
Yes those trams afterwards must have smelt lovely!!
Awesome report too. Les Dawson - LOL! I wouldn't dismiss 10K races out of hand, they are a lot of fun 😊😊😊
Very interesting and amusing race report. I actually had a space blanket with me but lost it in the first aid tent, but they gave me one anyway. Glad to see you are loved up!
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Southend Half Marathon
Christmas half marathon ✅
Manchester Marathon.
Wilmslow Half Marathon done!!
Swansea half Marathon done
