Reading Half Marathon 21/03/10
I decided to run the Reading Half, as I have family in Reading and it seemed a good idea to combine a visit and the chance to have a go at another half!! With 18,000 runners signed up, this was the biggest race I had done to date.
My main worry was of course being the only porty competing and I would be miss the camaraderie and support from my fellow porties, but with 18,000 runners I certainly did not feel lonely. The other worry was how I was going to get to the Madejski stadium on time. It is about 15mins in the car from my aunties, but with lots of road closures and road works on the motorway, I was panicking on how to make sure I arrived in time.
Anyway, no need to worry, I arrived in plenty of time to Green Park just outside the Madejski stadium where there were thousands of runners milling around and there was certainly a buzz of excitement in the air. I was now feeling very excited and could not wait to get started. My mum (my number one supporter) walked down with me to the start, I got there around 9.30am. We had been divided up into sections. With the elite runners and wheelchairs racers at the front, then 1.25- 140 runners, then my section which was 145 -155. I was hoping for 1.45.
I headed to my position with about 20mins to spare. I could not get over the amount of people that were gearing up for the race. There was a good warm up provided up on a stage with music to get us going. Then just as 10am struck, the sun appeared, so I was glad I had decided against wearing my gloves. The Mayor of Reading wished us all luck and announced there would be a slight delay to the start but asked us to keep calm and relaxed – easy for him to say!!. Then only a few minutes later the gun went off, but it actually look me 4 minutes to cross the line. It was so busy, it very hard to get off to a good start as I was constantly dodging past people with difficulty overtaking, however, the road then opened up and I found a bit more space to manoeuvre.
The route took us through a housing estate which was great as there was so much support on either side of the road. I had been informed by my cousin who had ran this previously there was hills at mile 2, then down hill and flat to mile 7 so with this in mind I kept up the pace I had set my self which was 7.40 -7.50. I hit the said hill (think Bakery Hill, a little longer) but I kept up the pace, still overtaking people on the way up.
Mile 4 took us through the grounds of Reading University, which became quite tight again as there was just single road to run along whilst dodging speed bumps. There was a water station here, although it was a bit of scramble to get a bottle. However, on I went to see my mum cheering me at mile 5, which continued with a great down hill, so picking up speed I belted down the hill. We then ran through the centre of Reading which was brilliant as there was so many people lining the streets cheering us on. Again we were on one side of the road, so space was tight, but I just continued to weave past people,
still feeling strong.
I kept it up to mile 8 where I knew my Auntie, cousin, cousin-in-law and their kids would be to cheer me on. It was great to see them and definitely gave me the boost I needed to keep my pace going. Passing more water and Lucozade stations, there were also jelly babies and orange quarters being handed out. I decided to stick to water and it was much needed as the sun was out and I was feeling very hot by now.
Then heading back towards the Madejski Stadium along a dual carriage way which did feel a bit of a drag. The stadium was in sight, but we had to actually run away from it and double back on yourself which seemed quite cruel. Hitting mile 11, telling myself it was only along the prom and back to go till the finish. I dug in and kept going. I was rather pleased to see I was surrounded by runners with red numbers which was the section in front of mine. I was still overtaking runners as we headed into the stadium. It was amazing!! The stadium was half full and the noise was deafening. I felt like an Olympic athlete (maybe just for a second). I saw the finish half way round the track and sprinted with all I could towards it - Fantastic – 1hour 40mins 28 seconds. A new pb by 8 minutes and I really enjoyed the race!!!
A great course, sun shining, brilliant support, stadium finish and new PB - what more could I ask for – well maybe a sub 1.40 at Edinburgh half!!!
On receiving the results, I was chuffed to see I finished 2070, not bad considering the thousands that ran it. Again a huge thanks to my coaches and friends at porty, with your help the training is paying off. This was a thoroughly enjoyable race, the people of Reading were brilliant and it was very well organised. With a Jim’ll fix it style medal, and a jam packed goodie bag - how’s about a bus load down to Reading for next year???
Thanks
Report Jenni Owens
