Bordeaux Semi Marathon is an event that some of my Eymet Running buddies have done before. They said the route was lovely and also flat. My curiosity was sparked and earlier this year I suggested to TailChaser that we could make a girlie weekend of it. Hotel and flights were booked and a training plan devised. Two weeks ago we were lining up to run for sausages when TC said ‘it’s only two weeks until Bordeaux’ and I realised I was just not ready. I had been training but problems with shoes and a misunderstanding of the significance of heel drop had disrupted my programme, then just a few days before the race I caught a cold. However as tickets were paid for and entries made I decided I might as well go, it would be a fun weekend anyway.
My France based buddies were reporting forecasts of perfect race conditions, no wind and 12 degrees so we decided to pack short sleeves and shorts. We arrived in Bordeaux on Friday evening, dined out on Octopus and had a reasonable night at the hotel. Saturday morning we were required to sign on and collect our ‘dossards’ so we made our way to the river to catch the ferry across to the expo. It was foggy, very foggy, we could not see the other river bank. it was also a little cooler than expected. We signed on collected some goodies and spent the rest of the day as tourists. The fog lifted by lunchtime and the afternoon was pleasant. Saturday evening we met up with the Eymet runners for an enjoyable meal in an Italian restaurant, where customers were queuing outside all evening to get a table (thankfully we were booked in).
Race morning we left our hotel before it was light, happy to see there was no fog. We met up with some of the Eymet lot and then joined another 12, 000 or so folk on the start line. I left the speedy ones in their pen and headed towards the back to join the ‘2 hours 15min plus’ group. It took a while to get over the start line, but we were soon off. The route headed along the river side, over a bridge, down the other side and back over another bridge for the first 6.5kms. it then went into the city (up some long if reasonably gentle inclines - yes they lied!), past well known land marks before returning to the water for a circuit around the docks followed by recrossing the first bridge and the far side of the river to recross the second bridge to the finish (where we started).
I set of at a steady pace and struggled to settle, I did not feel brilliant and thought I might as well do 5k, having thought I had lost my energy bar, I picked up a gel from the 5k feed station and trotted on towards the bridge. As I was crossing the bridge there was a roar of the crowd behind me, I wondered if it was a celebrity or something, then I realised, it was the lead runner, I had done nearly 7k and he was about to finish 21k, how impressive was that? (His final time was about 1 hour 5 mins). I kept going, thinking I might make it to 10k. There were runners all about me, but we had plenty of space on the closed roads to feel comfortable. We passed each other as people took walk breaks and were encouraged by supporters on the route who called out our names and said something (that I assumed was encouraging) in french. At the 10k station there was water and pieces of banana (not usually a fan, but this was just what I wanted). My legs were a bit tired by now, but I thought I might try to get to the river (15k). Each time we turned off the road I expected to see the river and many times I was disappointed, but eventually there it was and another station and more banana (also a toilet stop that was most welcome). Around the docks I went, pass a sign that said 5k to go. Just one more parkrun I thought. As we crossed the bridge for the second time I started to believe I might just do it. I looked at my watch (something weird had happened to the display, it was just showing my total run time) I had been running for just over 2 hours, I suddenly realised I was in with a chance of a PB. Only problem was every bit of my body hurt. I discovered that it actually hurt more when I slowed down to a walk so I kept on trotting as much as I could. I came over the bridge, crowds on the side were calling my name, I could see the finish arch in the distance, I just wanted to get there, I kept going unaware of who was around me or what was happening outside of my pain cave. I made it. I collected my medal and my food/water bag and slowly made my way to met up with TC and my Eymet friends. I tried to stretch as I walked and was grateful to get to them and receive a lovely hot cup of tea.
My Strava time was 2hrs 50 mins, some 8 mins quicker than my last HM (this time last year at Milton Keynes). A good time to stop running HMs and just enjoy 10ks I think!
Donegal East ¾ Marathon and 1/2 Marathon.
Rainbow bridge run.
Ecotrail Oslo 31 km - My own Barkley Marathons
