Greetings all!!
Thank you for the virtual pom-poms, they really helped me to achieve my goal - and complete my first ever Half Marathon. (the last one in May 2021 was virtual).
Race Report
A cold (3) morning, and the sun rose, the hotel (luckily) was only 500m from the start and finish lines, so took the opportunity to warm up with a very, very, very slow gentle jog to the starting area, where I was able to watch the 10km competitors race off for their 8:45 start time. We were due to 'race' off at 9:30.
Another slow jog back to the hotel, remove the gloves and the arm sleeves (less to carry) and to use the facilities. Good job too, as the queue whilst waiting for the start was really long!
Slow jog back to the start and there are 15 minutes to go! The Half and Full marathoners were all together, and I was miles from the front in Coral 4. Strangely, my quoted time of 2h30 was not quick enough to be classed as an elite, to get to start closer to the front 😀. Milling around, waiting for the start, I saw another lady who looked as though she was also on her own, so I went over to say "hello". Discovered, that she had arrived into Murcia on Friday, and this was her first Full Marathon!! So we hugged it out, and wished each other the best of luck.
The gun went off, and it was a slow shuffle to the starting line..... and then we were off!!! Or at least, a couple of thousand people were! I had made the executive decision to NOT start off at a gallop. So I was determined to try to spend the first 5 minutes or so at around 7:30 per km pace. This meant that wave, after wave of people ran passed me. The 5 minute buzzer went off, so I upped the cadence, and tried to settle in to a gentle trot. This was going to take me well over 2 hours after all!!
The result of this strategy (rightly or wrongly), was that I pretty much spent the entire 21km on my own. I slowly reeled in runners that were ahead of me, made sure I took on water or electrolytes at all of the aid stations. And also made sure I took on fuel (gels) at 7km and 14km - I did walk for these, as I find trying to run whilst taking on a gel really messy!
The last 2km is a straight run along the 'Gran Via', and it was along here that I was over taken by the 2 Marathon leaders. But the final 100m towards the Cathedral, I was on my own. Trying to push my legs to go faster!!
Over the line, and a medal was around my neck straight away! Result! Finished!!! I followed the coral, and I found myself in an area, where, for the runners, we had unlimited fruit, cake, water, electrolytes and ... Cervezza!!!! A couple of beers, and had a lovely chat with some other finishers that had flown over from Cardiff.
And I am well chuffed with the result! According to Strava, I PB'd everything but the 1km....... and the Half Marathon - 2:20:44, so bettered my last time by 18minutes. Well pleased!!!
Had a really slow run this morning, the legs seemed to be reluctant to pick up it's normal easy pace, but have managed to get booked in for a sports leg massage - so hopefully, they will turn over a little better for tomorrow's trot out.
Next job - to try and find another Half Marathon!!!
Happy running everyone!!
Half marathon 1st November
Christmas half marathon ✅
Milton Keynes Half Marathon 
My First Half Marathon
First half marathon completed