Worksop Half Marathon 2006

25th Worksop Half Marathon

29th October 2006

Race #2 - Report

I have been running little over ten weeks and during this time I have covered around 80 miles which for a dedicated runner is a mere two weeks worth of miles. I took all the advice thrown my way and did not rush into anything. This time was supposed to be for base building so that come the November 4th 2007 I could run the New York Marathon comfortably. This was until I tasted a ‘race day’ three weeks ago when I ran my first ever 10k. The ‘buzz’ I got from crossing the finish line was unreal and I knew there and then that running was becoming a way of life and not just a means to get fit in time for next November.
People told me I was mad for entering a half marathon so soon but I believed I could do it and knew I had put the work in to be able to get round the course in one piece. I had been carrying an injury for over a week on my left shin and this nearly caused me to pull out. I decided however on Saturday night that I would be running on the Sunday and that I would take whatever pain came with it.
I awoke three hours before my race (I planned it to be two but having put the clocks back but forgot to set mine I was up at 7am instead of 8am). This gave me plenty of time for a light breakfast and a good warm up ready for the start of the race at 10.30am.
I left for the race at 9am and arrived around 9.45am in the middle of Worksop. I expected a closed off town and hundreds of runners to be crowding the streets. I could see a few runners but nothing to the scale I expected. We made our way to the starting area and that’s when I saw all the runners I had expected to see on arrival. Now there were only sixteen hundred starters but having run my first race with four hundred entrants it seemed more like sixteen thousand.
I did my warm up and made my way to the starting line. There was a delay due to a guy having an epileptic fit, but once he was cared for by the paramedics on call, we were off. The sun was shining and this had brought many of the locals out so there were hundreds of people clapping and cheering as we set off.
The first mile was relatively flat as the route led out of the town centre and through the suburbs, but that all changed very soon.
The next two miles were a hundred meters flat followed by three hundred meter climbs, over and over for what seemed like an eternity. As I reached the third mile marker I looked around and all I could see was a valley. We had to start descending soon as there was nothing left to climb. We were only three miles into the run and I felt good but I was already sick of the hills.
Then it came, a long descent down towards the first drinks station at the mile four marker. What I found at this stage in the race was that I was going from feeling amazing to tired, back and forth every few seconds. This was all forgotten when I saw a guy not only running the marathon but pushing his disabled brother round in a wheelchair. I had so much respect for this guy that it gave me an injection of energy and determination.
After the mile four marker the course became a steady flat run along a country lane that led into Clumber Park where we were greeted by the first official race photographers. At this point I noticed a girl I thought I recognized form school. It turned out not to be her but I noticed that for around the next three miles we were passing each other back and forth. She really helped me through that part of the course as it just seemed to go on and on.
At the six mile marker I asked a guy running next to me how long we had been running (silly me forgot to start my watch). Amazingly he said 47minutes. Here was me thinking that I was running at a very conservative pace and I had run the first 10k in the same time I had ran my first ever 10k. Now to say I took over a minute a mile off my training time during that first race I was astounded that I was running at that pace without even knowing it. I guess that speed work with my running club worked without me even knowing it.
The second set of hills came at around mile seven but there was a good crowd at this point so they carried me up the hill. I felt a little fatigued at the top so I opened the gel I had been carrying since the start. This was a bad mistake as a combination of the weather and my body heat had took its toll on the once cool gel and as I took a gulp I nearly choked on the hot sticky gel. Luckily the next water station was just around the corner and after downing two cups of water I was back on track again. The energy gel was soon thrown into the woods.
My favorite part of the run was as we left Clumber Park and entered Sherwood Forest. The surroundings were amazing, hundreds of tall trees and just a long straight road through the middle. I remember hearing a lady say that there were no more hills and I was very thankful of this. I cannot clearly remember passing the next two or three mile markers but I remember entering the ‘zone’ and blocking everything out as there was a constant string of runners stopping to rest and I was determined not to join them.
The next clear marker I remember was mile eleven. I will never forget this mile as it was the hardest thing I have ever done. The furthest I had ever ran prior to that day was seven miles so every step I took I was breaking my record. I remember thinking that the lady who said that there were no more hills forgot one, the mental hill. I will always remember how much I had to dig deep to get me through that mile. My legs had never felt so tight and my energy levels were at zero. If the ‘wall’ myth is true then I believe I hit it. I was running on pure determination. I remember re entering civilization late in mile eleven and as we passed Worksop College I knew that the final push was soon to be upon me.
We came out of the college grounds and I saw it, it was like a giant firework display in the middle of a dark desert, the mile twelve marker. The feelings I got from passing that marker were too good to explain. All I can say is writing this down has sent shivers down my spine. I had made it. One more mile and after running twelve I could have ran that last mile with a broken leg. As we came down the final road I saw a crowd of people in the distance and I knew there and then that just around that corner were the finish line and two very proud parents. I entered the final straight to hundreds of claps and cheers and as soon as I saw the finish line I kicked it and sprinted past many runners to cross the line.
My goal was simply to finish the race. I told everyone finishing was the main thing but I would like to run a sub two hour race. My personal goal which only I knew about was sub one hour fifty. I crossed the line in 1.49.58 (Chip time 1.49.33). Could I have cut it any finer!!
I saw my parents who both had enormous smiles and seeing this gave me so much pleasure. I will never forget crossing that line. I had done it and beaten all three goals but more importantly I am half way to running a marathon and I have exactly a year until New York.


Conditions: Warm, Sunny

Time: 1.49.33 (PB)


"In the face of uncertainty, there is nothing wrong with hope."