Huge thanks to club member Steph Foster for sending us this report about her September Half Marathons!
The month of September brought two Half Marathons my way! I entered Lake Vyrnwy months ago, looking for a good time, and only entered Shrewsbury as I knew I would suffer from FOMO if I didn’t! The plan was to get a PB at the flat Lake Vyrnwy race and find a way to simply survive Shrewsbury, with it being a hilly route.
Lake Vyrnwy had a leisurely start at 11am, bringing a slightly higher temperature, which wasn’t ideal. The course is great for PBs, with an uphill start but then a flat loop of the lake, with a lovely downhill finish! However, I didn’t completely bank on it being quite such a boring race. With little to no support along the way, you could hear a pin drop. I almost always run with music but I took the ‘no earphones’ rule literally and didn’t take them. Turns out certain types of earphones are allowed, so I dropped a clanger there! 13 miles of listening to my own breathing, and everyone’s else’s, made it more of a challenge. Even so, I crossed the finish line with a time of 1 hour, 39 minutes, 36 seconds, and I couldn’t have been happier. The first statement I made was “I’m not doing Shrewsbury”.
Fast forward 2 weeks… and I’m running Shrewsbury! I didn’t have any expectations for today, apart from finishing in one piece, but of course there’s always a little voice in the back of your mind saying ‘anything’s possible’. So, I started off keeping a good pace, keeping the 1:40hr pacer either just ahead or just behind, and figured I’d see how I got on. I felt great for the first 8 miles, even managing the hills without too much problem.
Then Kingsland hit…awful. I walked a few steps once I found myself getting slower and slower. I started up again and was worried I’d lost too much time. As I got back into the showground, my husband Jon was shouting from the sidelines, ‘get the pacer, he’s right there!’ . I managed to catch up with him and pass him just before the finish line and got a time of 1:39:07…a PB! Absolutely shocked. More so when it was announced that I came 2nd in my age range…day made.
I couldn’t be happier with my efforts and representing NDRC while doing so. I’ve improved so much since joining the club and I can’t thank the Wednesday night run leaders enough for their support.
