So it was time for the first race of the year and at my favourite place Silverstone, thankfully this year it was rather warmer still a bit of a breeze but the sun was shining. After a rather slow year last year I was looking forward to getting a better time. We lined up on the start line which is on the old start/finish straight and as has now become tradition the chain played out as we headed off.
It's a nice start a bit of down hill and mainly flat with lots of spectators and music playing. As this race is the official warm up to the London Marathon it attracts some big names so as I was approaching mile 5 David Weir was winning the wheelchair race for the 5th year running! I kept plodding along and spotted Dave in the crowd at various points, aiming the camera at me, it's lovely to run on a traffic free course which is reasonable flat and the smooth and I just love running around the track and through the pit lane. The race finishes back where it starts so sadly just when you don't want it there is a small hill back to the finish line, I finally managed to cross it in 2 hours 29 minutes 31 seconds, although still 10 minutes off my best I was pleased to get round much quicker than last year.
So fast forward 2 weeks and we headed off to Wales with Chris and Lisa to take part in a little run with Mo! We arrived at the Expo on Friday afternoon to collect our race numbers and goody bag and took a look around getting some ideas for future runs and as always I had to buy myself some merchandise, can't resist a bit of shopping.
We met up with Hilary and Jim a bit later and wished each other good luck for the next day. Race day and we got up nice and early for a hearty breakfast before heading back into Cardiff before the roads closed, we arrived nice and early as the start wasn't until 2.10pm we had a few hours to kill before taking our places in our pens. The morning was nice running weather so as much as I prefer a late start it's a shame we couldn't have started at 9 it would have meant a nice dry run rather than an extremely wet one.
I decided to wear the poncho we'd been given the day before in the hope I might not get to wet, that didn't work, after diving behind a bush at mile 3 for a wee the heavens opened and hailstones rained down, with the wind and rain/hail the poncho didn't really work other than keeping the wind off me. I though that would be the worst of the weather but at mile 5 the heavens opened again just as I was running over the barrage the wind and rain were blowing so much it almost took me off my feet, thoughts of New Forest Marathon 2012 flashed threw my head it was horrible but if nothing else it made me get my Arse in gear to get out of the wind and back into a slightly more sheltered part of the run. Considering the weather there was plenty of support for us runners.
Again mile 12 and there's a hill what is it with these races why put a hill at the end, I decided to power walk this one to allow myself some energy for a sprint finish, having run the route in October I knew I was almost home, I looked at my watch and saw I'd been running for 2 hours 7 minutes so with my last bit of energy and the determination to get under 2 and a half hours, I did my best Usain Bold impression and sprinted to the line in a time of 2 hours 29 minutes 54 seconds and claimed my medal which says I took part in a World Championship race! And a very bit well done to Chris for getting a PB
And finally for some strange reason I thought it would be a good idea to run the Easter Bunny 2 days after the Cardiff Half Marathon, not sure how much I'd had to drink when I entered. Anyway I wanted to earn my Easter egg, luckily an old friend was running so I decided to keep her company as it turned out it was a good idea had someone to keep me company my legs were not happy with me and although a flat course those small bumps felt more like mountains and without Nicky's encouragement I may well have given up again couple of points but I found my stride and actually enjoyed the second half. I was a bit disappointed with the size of the chocolate egg but as always a very well organised run and I was pleased with my time of 1 hour 11 minutes 14 seconds. Well done to all the CRC runners who took part.
Tracy
