This’ll be the last one for a while 😁
My third and final live event of the year has been and gone! They seemed bunched together and hurried, and I felt very much under-prepared for all three. Yet somehow, in their own ways they have all been absolutely wonderful and unforgettable!
My husband and I had made sure between us that we had everything planned for our trip to Oxford. I booked the hotel, he got the train tickets. We were both communicating with Speedy Friend Rob, an old Oxford pal who also had a place in the half marathon. He was back and forth with knee problems, but in the final couple of weeks before the event things seemed to be coming together for him. As for me, I was not expecting a stellar performance. Only a few weeks since the Brighton Marathon, with a niggly ankle, I had not been running all that much. The weather has not been kind, and I was finding it a struggle to run even 10K at sub-2-HM-pace. I decided to aim for a finishing time of 2:05 and see what happened.
We had a nice journey on the train - we recently decided to get rid of our car, and this was our first train trip for a very long time! But yay for public transport 😊😊😊 We stayed in Summertown, which was the area of Oxford where we lived for seven years, and which is on the half marathon route. Pizza at Mamma Mia set me up for the evening, and I even had a cheeky glass of red wine!
After not much sleep, I found myself the next morning jogging up Banbury Road to join the crowds at the race village in University Parks. I said hello to a marshal who was standing by the gate and his expression was icy, seeming to look right through me. I got the impression that some of the staff on this run were not volunteers! Not the best start, but the race village was buzzing as I arrived! Clearly this was not a small event, and the loo queues were somewhat daunting. I got a text or two from Linda9389 who was making her way from Marston. I told her I was by the loo queues in a pink top, and she said she was wearing a “seventies jumper” 😄 Pretty soon we spotted each other, and we embarked on the loo queue, chatting about how we were feeling, what we’d been up to, and assessing what we had seen of the event so far. (Btw the shorts look fab on you, Linda!) I was quite keen to join in with the warm up, but a bit worried that Linda wouldn’t want to because she’s got leg troubles at the moment, but she was up for it, and we had a lot of fun! Shout out to the pompom-behatted man who lead the warm up - I have never given myself a face and chest massage before 😄
After that it was time for Linda and me to part company - it was so lovely to meet her! I went off to get in my pen, and wait with bated breath for the start. I jiggled about in the chilly air, and ate a caffeine chew plus three jelly babies. My bottle of water to chase these down was unintentionally sparkling, so I didn’t dare have much of it - luckily there were bins. In my belt I had two gels, and my watch was set to alert me at 40 minutes, and 80 minutes to take them. I took off my pink top and tied it to the railings at the side, and I was ready to go!
Passing under the starting arch, I started my watch a touch too soon. Ah well. I was so cold I went galloping off as usual, but I managed to settle fairly quickly into a comfortable pace - a good bit faster than intended but as usual I decided just to go for it. We wound our way past hallowed blond stone, and concrete, buildings of academia. The course winds out-and-back a lot, which I don’t personally mind at all - in fact I quite like it, it somehow makes me feel as though I’m getting somewhere. I was keeping a good enough pace for a sub-2 hour finish, but I put that thought aside. I had started with the 1:40 pacing group (by accident, not design), who quickly left me for dust, but the 2:00 pacers remained behind me for some time. We ran along tree-lined streets, of which I was really only dimly aware because we were so crowded together that I had to keep a sharp eye on my feet most of the time! Apart from having been required to take a lateral flow test, it was almost as if Covid never happened 🤔
As we clattered through Summertown, twice past the long row of shops and my hotel, I felt the first tug of fatigue. But my mind was kept occupied by craning to look out for Speedy Friend Rob and Linda, amongst the people going in the opposite direction. I also sought out Paul From School, who I hadn’t seen since 1987 when we were both about 16 or 17. And I still haven’t seen him, and neither did I spot Rob or Linda OR my husband!
The weather was fantastic! Cool, with a touch of rain, overcast, and a gentle wind from the South which we weren’t aware of most of the time. Even more to the runner’s delight, the route is very flat, except for the long section where we left town and looped through the village of Marston, where it seemed to keep going downhill. At that stage we were about halfway through, and I was thinking of slowing it down a bit, but I thought it would be a pity to waste all that lovely downhillness!!! And I was expecting that once I had gone down I would have to go up again, but it didn’t seem to happen! I have run the Oxford Half once before, and I’m sorry to say that 2016 race is where my personal best of 1:58:um still hangs! But having experienced the event again I can see that it’s a great course for a PB.
Also in the Marston section, I was considerably revived by my two gels (40 minutes apart - it’s a LONG section!!), a short walk to swallow some fluid, and a wonderful girl at the power bar aid station. She had a megaphone, through which she growled “POWER BAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!” “ENERGY DRIIIIIIIIINK!!!!” and it was so funny! I was a little disappointed with the music on the the course not being as good as I remembered from last time, but the highlights for me were: the granddad band playing ‘I’m a Believer’ by Park Town on Banbury Road, the highland pipers on Marston Ferry Road doing a mash-up of ‘Scotland the Brave’ and ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’, and most especially the brass band playing ‘La Mer’ near the Sheldonian Theatre (I LOVE that song!!). I didn’t see all that many in fancy dress, but there was Spiderman (go Spidey!), and I AGAIN had a spot of bother with a giant teddy bear! Oh, and there were two blokes carrying washing machines, but I’m sort of glad to say I only saw photos of them!
I was having my second gel (Kendal mint cake w/ caffeine) as I rounded the corner from Marston Ferry back onto Banbury road. I passed the street where I used to live as I scrambled onto the pavement to chuck my gel wrapper into the bin by the bus stop. After that we soon headed onto side streets, and thence began our final tour of University Parks.
It’s lovely running round the ‘Parks, beside the river, under the trees. It’s also HARD WORK!!! At this point I was resenting the mile markers - 11, 12, they are so far apart!! Miles are sooo much longer than kilometres, especially at that stage of a race 😂 I surged onward, but still I was caught and passed by the frontman of the 2 hour pace group… and later the chap at the back. Shout out to the chap at the back! He was lovely, and so encouraging despite having a slightly surly manner. They got away from me, but I caught up again as we left the parks and headed back into the quaintness of central Oxford.
The last part of Oxford half is a scream, it winds round and round and you’re thinking damnit where’s that finish line!!!!! Some lovely sights to see, including running round the Radcliffe Camera (an 18th century domed, cylindrical library - that’s the photo you always see on ads for the Oxford Half). Eventually we turned a corner and there was the finish arch, looking impossibly far away as they always do. I picked up my pace as much as I could, a bit of abs cramp had taken hold during the last mile, but I knew I could get my sprint finish on! And hooorah I crossed the line!!!!
2:00:22 ha! Considering my expectations I thought that was an amazing time😊😊😊 I was most chuffed! Picked up my medal and drink, and shortly afterwards my husband too! We found Speedy Friend Rob (pictured above with moi, gosh I didn't think to ask for a selfie with Linda!) near the bag drop back in the ‘Parks, and I must say it was lovely to spend time with him after the race. It was his first proper event, and he’d only done the HM distance a few times before. He’d been aiming at 1:45, and he totally did that - finishing in 1:44:44!! He was so excited, and amazed that the only part of his body that hurt were his shoulders 😂 (I know that one!). In fact we were both feeling really good. Rob was determined to go for a drink in the Turf Tavern, which took a long time to access because we had to cross the course three times! So when we finally got to the Turf we naturally had to stay there for… a few hours… 😂 Thank goodness that Beavertown Neck Oil is not very strong! (IPA reference for Mr Decker)
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