Wilmslow Half Marathon - March 2017

On Sunday 19^th March 2017 I ran Wilmslow Half Marathon.  This was part of my training for London to test out race day nutrition and hydration.

The night before I set out my running clothes and completed the details on the back of my race number before attaching it to my vest! I was having the usual quandary of what to wear!  Long tights, cropped or shorts?  Vest or T Shirt? Baselayer or no baselayer?  The forecast by the Met Office kept changing by the minute from sunny to heavy rain! In the end I opted for cropped leggings with a short sleeve base layer and a vest on top and packed every alternative going ... just in case!

I set my alarm for 6.45am and felt dismay when it went off and all I could hear was the wind and rain bashing against the windows. I groaned and desperately wanted to snuggle back under my duvet and not bother!  However, not bothering was not an option!  I had been training too hard for the weather to stop me!

I got up and dressed in my running gear before heading downstairs to have my usual pre-race breakfast of Porridge, banana and a cup of coffee.

My husband was being my driver and one man support team, and we were ready to leave the house at around 7.45am to travel the 90 miles from our home town of Kendal to the Race Head Quarters situated at the Rugby Club in Wilslow, ready for the 10.30am race start.

Thankfully as we headed South the weather slowly improved and the rain changed from being torrential to just a drizzle. By the time we arrived in Wilmslow at around 9.30am it had stopped completely!

We opted to park at The Waters Carpark, which was a 10 minute walk away from the start so we could get a quick getaway after the race, and not have to wait for the roads to reopen.

We headed to the start which was bizarrely situated on a quiet residential estate!  There were balloons attached to all the trees and fences along the way! I felt very much like I was going to a street party rather than a race! 

Once at the Rugby Club I visited the facilities which there were plenty – a big long row of porto-loos!! This is one of the few races I have not had to queue endlessly to relieve myself before a race! 

There were lots of runners milling about, meeting up and generally chit chatting and getting excited. Tea, coffee, bacon sandwiches and pre/post race massages were all on offer as well as a bag drop. It was a great and friendly atmosphere and I met a few friends at this point and got a pre-race pep-talk!

At around 10.15am we headed to the start line and to get into the right time zone.  This proved slightly tricky as it was so busy!  I slowly manoeuvred myself through the zones until I hit the 1 hour 50 minute marker and decided to stay at around this point since my Half Marathon PB stood at 1 hour 48 minutes 52 seconds!

My main goal for this race was to try and relax and not put too much pressure on myself.

I kept reminding myself that I was in the midst of marathon training and therefore I was running on tired legs so not to get too hung up on getting a PB!

But as always common sense went out the window once I was lined up for the race and I was talking myself into “going for it!”  I knew that to get a PB I would have to aim for around 8:10 minute miles or faster which seemed a huge ask!

I started to feel fission of nerves and excitement as I waited for the starting gun to sound.  The rain was holding off but the wind was beginning to get up!

The race started and we shuffled towards the start timing mat.  It was very compact at this stage and I was hoping that the field would soon spread out once we got going!

I tried to get into a space of my own and relax into the race. The pace through the first mile was a tad faster than I had planned, but that was to be expected due to the downhill nature of the start. After going through the 1 mile marker in 7:54 I maintained this pace going through the 2 mile marker in 7:54 and the 3 mile mark in 7:55.  It was at around this point that we came across the first water station which had bottled water with sports caps on.  Although slightly too early in the race for me to need a drink I took one for a quick slug before disposing of the bottle.

The rain started at around the 4 mile mark and the wind seemed to pick up too which resulted in my pace slowing!

I went through mile 4 in 8:08, mile 5 in 8:03, mile 6 in 8:14 and mile 7 in 8:11. 

At this point I was still happy as although I had slowed I was still ahead of my PB pace!

At around this point there was another water station but this time the water was served in plastic cups.  Unfortunately, I tried to take a quick slug and ended up coughing and spluttering as it went down wrong!!

By mile 8 I was beginning to feel tired and this showed in my pace which had now slowed to 8:35.  I tried not to get too hung up on this but it was beginning to bother me and I was starting to lose the mental battle! At this point I decided I needed an energy boost and took a gel, hoping it would save the day!

On a positive note despite slowing I still managed to maintain my pace and went through mile 9 in 8:34, mile 10 in 8:36, mile11 in 8:28, mile 12 in 8:43 and mile 13 in 8:33.

I was delighted to see the finishing arch and tried to push myself to the finish line but by now my legs had nothing left in them!  I was delighted to actually cross the line and was presented with a goody bag which contained a medal, T Shirt and some promotional material.

The course had timing mats, that recorded your splits as you went through 10km, 10miles and of course, the finish. I went through 10km in 49:58, 10 miles in 1:22:36 and my final time was 1:49:18 just 26 seconds slower than my PB! I felt slightly cross and disappointed with myself once I had finished as I am sure I could have done it if I had just pushed that bit harder!

The route itself is really pretty with an out and back loop, which runs through the country roads and back towards Wilmslow. Due to the rural course, the route isn't packed with supporters, but there were little pockets full of people cheering as we went through the villages.

All in all, this is a pretty flat, fairly well organised race with a great community feel and a lovely route. However I was very disappointed with the organisation at the finish line which seemed to be positioned in the most inaccessible place along a very muddy wet lane with absolutely nowhere to meet family and friends without causing a complete blockage to the rest of the finishers!

After fighting through the crowds and finally managing to meet up with my husband we then had to negotiate the muddy puddles and crowds to get back to the car!

All in all good preparation for London Marathon and I know its my Mental attitude that I need to focus on during the race!!