Bath Half Marathon - My biggest event yet
This Sunday I competed in the 25th Bath Half Marathon. It was very much a dream come true.
I think my ambitions of running a half marathon go back a few years. Very often over a pint or 5 I would say to one of my mates "Fancy training for and running in the Bath Half Marathon next year?” We would make pledges to do so, which of course never came to anything. We missed it this year, but there's always next year, we would tell ourselves. If I'm honest, at the time running a half marathon was about as realistic a goal for me as flying to the moon.
But why Bath you may be wondering. Why was it the Bath half marathon I wanted to do?
The reason is simply my love of the city. Growing up in Melksham, which is about 10 miles from Bath, I spent a lot of time there, especially as a teenager. I would spend many Saturday afternoons in Bath, walking round the shops and spending my pocket money on the latest Madonna 12”, or a trip to the cinema.
As well as the wonderful architecture and its Roman history, Bath has some lovely little shops, especially in places like the corridor, and some great pubs. I remember celebrating finishing my A levels in the Crystal Palace (my personal favourite, especially in summer when you can sit in the beer garden) and I still go there now, usually when I meet up with Pete for a mid-week drink.
I got my place for Sunday's event last September, before I had completed my first half marathon. I was very pleased to do so, as it is notoriously hard to get a place - it sells out quickly and I went online as soon as applications were open. I think it says a lot about the event that it is so popular.
My last half marathon was in November and whilst I have trained hard since then - increasing the duration of my long runs - I did feel nervous leading up to the event. I did a 10k at Calne the week before, which proved to be less than ideal - advertised as being on road, it was mostly cross-country. I had to take it pretty steady, as it was not worth risking an injury.
Anthony said in my last session with him that he would be surprised if I didn't complete Bath in less than 2 hours. Whilst this was obviously a compliment it did mean I felt a little pressure not to disappoint.
The 10k at Calne aside, my final preparations seemed to go well. I wrapped up my training with a steady run on Wednesday and then allowed myself 3 days complete rest. I thought this would mean I turned up feeling fresh on Sunday. I also had a fantastic sports massage on Friday to make sure I was nice and loose and suffered none of my occasional lower back problems.
I woke up nice and early on the day and made my way to the station. The train seemed the best way to travel (the traffic going into Bath can be a nightmare, and parking is not great either) and I travelled down with Grace, a lady of similar ability from my running club at the gym.
The runners "village" was in a familiar spot for me - on the cricket ground where I go to watch Somerset play a one-day match every year in June! I had never seen so many runners – 1600 people had entered the Swindon half marathon, but there were around 10,000 entrants for Bath. Everything seemed well organised and we dropped off our bags and made our way to the start.
As we lined up I noticed what a great day it was. The weather has been miserable this month, and the forecast for Sunday had not been good. What a welcome surprise then, to see a clear blue sky.
I set off at a fairly decent pace, allowing myself a couple of miles to warm up and trying not to go too quickly at first. I was therefore alarmed when my legs started to hurt soon into the race. The rest days did not seem to have worked. I hoped the pain would ease off but it didn't. It soon became obvious that I had a choice of not completing the race, or just biting the bullet. No prizes for guessing which one I went for.
It was agony. My legs often feel heavy during a long run but this was different. In the end I decided that running a marathon is going to be agony (especially the last 6-8 miles) so this would be a good test of my mental strength, if nothing else.
I did manage to keep smiling however. It was great to see some elite athletes in action (especially those from overseas). I saw them overtaking as I was finishing my first lap (they were obviously on the second and final lap!). It was great to be part of such a major event, and nice to see people in fancy dress, including one guy in a Sumo wrestler costume!
The event was extremely well marshalled and there were 4 drinks stations on the course, some of which were manned by people in Army uniforms. Obviously the local regiment had agreed to help out. What a great idea to hand out lucozade sport as well as water - but would someone please explain why some people were pouring it on the ground??
My second lap did go a bit quicker. I think I just got a boost knowing I was halfway and could start counting down the miles.
At about mile 10 it really started to hurt. I kept telling myself to keep going, how much I had wanted to run this race, how I could wear my race t-shirt with pride afterwards, and how I could treat myself to a Schwartz burger (best burgers ever!) and as much booze as I liked after the race.
It must have worked because despite all the pain I got to the line. I will always remember turning into Great Pulteney Street for the home straight, seeing all the people, smiling broadly and sprinting to the end.
According to the clock I had made it in 2:03:41. I later found out my chip time was 2:00:50. Gutted not to have got round in under 2 hours but Anthony said earlier that had I had fresh legs I'd probably have cruised round in 1 hour 50 mins. I don't know about that.
I did indeed treat myself to a burger and a couple of quick pints before heading home. A special race calls for special beer and I had bought some "Schneider Weisse", a dark German wheat beer that I used to drink on my year abroad as a student in Regensburg. It did taste lovely but I managed to save a few bottles for the Reading half marathon in 3 weeks time..
So was it worth all the pain? You bet. Will I be doing it next year? Come hell or high water I will.
Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, March 2006
I think my ambitions of running a half marathon go back a few years. Very often over a pint or 5 I would say to one of my mates "Fancy training for and running in the Bath Half Marathon next year?” We would make pledges to do so, which of course never came to anything. We missed it this year, but there's always next year, we would tell ourselves. If I'm honest, at the time running a half marathon was about as realistic a goal for me as flying to the moon.
But why Bath you may be wondering. Why was it the Bath half marathon I wanted to do?
The reason is simply my love of the city. Growing up in Melksham, which is about 10 miles from Bath, I spent a lot of time there, especially as a teenager. I would spend many Saturday afternoons in Bath, walking round the shops and spending my pocket money on the latest Madonna 12”, or a trip to the cinema.
As well as the wonderful architecture and its Roman history, Bath has some lovely little shops, especially in places like the corridor, and some great pubs. I remember celebrating finishing my A levels in the Crystal Palace (my personal favourite, especially in summer when you can sit in the beer garden) and I still go there now, usually when I meet up with Pete for a mid-week drink.
I got my place for Sunday's event last September, before I had completed my first half marathon. I was very pleased to do so, as it is notoriously hard to get a place - it sells out quickly and I went online as soon as applications were open. I think it says a lot about the event that it is so popular.
My last half marathon was in November and whilst I have trained hard since then - increasing the duration of my long runs - I did feel nervous leading up to the event. I did a 10k at Calne the week before, which proved to be less than ideal - advertised as being on road, it was mostly cross-country. I had to take it pretty steady, as it was not worth risking an injury.
Anthony said in my last session with him that he would be surprised if I didn't complete Bath in less than 2 hours. Whilst this was obviously a compliment it did mean I felt a little pressure not to disappoint.
The 10k at Calne aside, my final preparations seemed to go well. I wrapped up my training with a steady run on Wednesday and then allowed myself 3 days complete rest. I thought this would mean I turned up feeling fresh on Sunday. I also had a fantastic sports massage on Friday to make sure I was nice and loose and suffered none of my occasional lower back problems.
I woke up nice and early on the day and made my way to the station. The train seemed the best way to travel (the traffic going into Bath can be a nightmare, and parking is not great either) and I travelled down with Grace, a lady of similar ability from my running club at the gym.
The runners "village" was in a familiar spot for me - on the cricket ground where I go to watch Somerset play a one-day match every year in June! I had never seen so many runners – 1600 people had entered the Swindon half marathon, but there were around 10,000 entrants for Bath. Everything seemed well organised and we dropped off our bags and made our way to the start.
As we lined up I noticed what a great day it was. The weather has been miserable this month, and the forecast for Sunday had not been good. What a welcome surprise then, to see a clear blue sky.
I set off at a fairly decent pace, allowing myself a couple of miles to warm up and trying not to go too quickly at first. I was therefore alarmed when my legs started to hurt soon into the race. The rest days did not seem to have worked. I hoped the pain would ease off but it didn't. It soon became obvious that I had a choice of not completing the race, or just biting the bullet. No prizes for guessing which one I went for.
It was agony. My legs often feel heavy during a long run but this was different. In the end I decided that running a marathon is going to be agony (especially the last 6-8 miles) so this would be a good test of my mental strength, if nothing else.
I did manage to keep smiling however. It was great to see some elite athletes in action (especially those from overseas). I saw them overtaking as I was finishing my first lap (they were obviously on the second and final lap!). It was great to be part of such a major event, and nice to see people in fancy dress, including one guy in a Sumo wrestler costume!
The event was extremely well marshalled and there were 4 drinks stations on the course, some of which were manned by people in Army uniforms. Obviously the local regiment had agreed to help out. What a great idea to hand out lucozade sport as well as water - but would someone please explain why some people were pouring it on the ground??
My second lap did go a bit quicker. I think I just got a boost knowing I was halfway and could start counting down the miles.
At about mile 10 it really started to hurt. I kept telling myself to keep going, how much I had wanted to run this race, how I could wear my race t-shirt with pride afterwards, and how I could treat myself to a Schwartz burger (best burgers ever!) and as much booze as I liked after the race.
It must have worked because despite all the pain I got to the line. I will always remember turning into Great Pulteney Street for the home straight, seeing all the people, smiling broadly and sprinting to the end.
According to the clock I had made it in 2:03:41. I later found out my chip time was 2:00:50. Gutted not to have got round in under 2 hours but Anthony said earlier that had I had fresh legs I'd probably have cruised round in 1 hour 50 mins. I don't know about that.
I did indeed treat myself to a burger and a couple of quick pints before heading home. A special race calls for special beer and I had bought some "Schneider Weisse", a dark German wheat beer that I used to drink on my year abroad as a student in Regensburg. It did taste lovely but I managed to save a few bottles for the Reading half marathon in 3 weeks time..
So was it worth all the pain? You bet. Will I be doing it next year? Come hell or high water I will.
Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, March 2006
posted by Jon | 8:24 pm
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