Olympic Challenge: Cardiff half marathon (it was a while ago!)

Finally a very long overdue blog post about the Cardiff half marathon. The race itself took place on Sunday 5^th October but I am now only just getting around to writing about it.

It was my second time to take part in the race in the Welsh capital and I was really looking forward to it. It is quite renowned as a fast course and the previous year I had been triumphant in breaking my PB so I had been aiming to do the same again this year….despite me being one year older. The PB I had set one year ago I had already broken in March of this year in Reading (albeit by 1 second) and I had recently improved on my 10km time so I thought it wasn’t out of the realms of possibility that I may achieve my goal in Cardiff.

I like Cardiff as a city and hadn’t really planned my visit too well in terms of booking a restaurant for dinner and everywhere seemed full. Clearly there were already many runners in the city carbing up as well as infinite groups of girls and lads on a weekend away lining the stomach for a night in Reflex. Eventually we managed to find a table somewhere and I could rest easy that the carbs were being absorbed as I gorged on the bread basket.

The half marathon formed the 5^th race of the Run Britain Grand Prix which I was currently placed in 35^th position. Money prizes end for those placed outside of the top 12 so it was not realistic for me to start planning retirement but I did want to try and go up a place or two. The course is a really nice and flat one. It starts at the castle in the city centre and then goes past the mighty stadiums and out to Cardiff bay which is stunning….particularly on a day like today.

That said there was a little drizzle of rain as we waited for the start so I waited as long as possible before de-robing into my singlet and shorts. At this point there were a lot of people to benefit from body heat in the start pen although the aroma still is rather a peculiar one. How is it that some manage to smell at the start of the race? Shower before you get ready people! If not to wake you up before your race then at least on the off chance you may be stood next to me at the start line.

We were soon off on our way and the first mile was really crowded. Lots of weaving in and out of others but eventually things thinned out and I seemed to be on track for breaking my record. Since the race was quite a few weeks ago now I cannot remember at what point I realised that I was slowing up but I think it was around the 7 mile mark. I was thoroughly enjoying the race (maybe a little too much) as my pace had slowed.

That said I carried on through the parks on the outskirts of town and soon was on the home stretch. I knew I couldn’t break the PB but pushed as hard as I could to the end. I must admit that aside from my own goal I had another motivation in the form of Jamie Baulch. I had recently connected with the former Olympic sprinter on Twitter and LinkedIn and had also told him about my goal for the day. I had arranged to meet him at the end and if I was way off my record then that would be embarrassing to say to a professional. However; I crossed the line still semi pleased with my result and went to find Mr. Baulch. It was really exciting to meet him and he still congratulated me on my result. A few photos later and I let him get on with his interviewing of the actual winner of the race (a little more important than me) and then went to the massage tent. The two girls who did my massage were really great and avoided my left knee when I said I don’t like people touching it after having dislocated it back in 2005. Assuming it was a sports injury they asked me what happened. I was honest and said it was in a hotel room in Soho when my kneecap popped out. I would tell you about it but I mustn’t digress as surely you are only interested in reading about my running right?

Walking back to the hotel I spotted Colin Jackson who was doing photos with finishers. There was no queue so I had a quick pic with him. A super nice man and again very exciting to meet someone of his level. He said I must have been quick as I was one of the first meeting him for a photo so I told him my time and that I hadn’t beaten my PB. He said that I should come back next year and try again to which I responded that it may be unlikely as I would be one year older. His response has inspired me to go back:

“You’ll be one year fitter”

So my final result was 1 hour 21 minutes 33 seconds which placed me 218th out of around 20,000 I think. Still a good result and meant that I actually went up 5 places in the Grand Prix and now was 30^th.

One more race left of the competition so the question is whether I can make it into the twenties once I run in Leeds?

The castle: