Halfway there!
Yesterday was the second event of my charity fundraising triple, the delayed 2020 Sheffield Half Marathon. (Look out for me crossing the start line at the very end of the video at that link!)
This was logistically the easiest of the three, being my local event, so no need for an overnight stay - just a 5k warm-up jog from home to the start line in the city centre! Running-wise, though, it's by far the steepest of them, with a ridiculous uphill climb for the first six miles. I've got the measure of it now, having run this event twice before, but there were several points I thought to myself, "Why am I doing this again?" Then I got to mile 7, with its stunning views from the top of Ringinglow, and massively enjoyable downhill sweep back into town, and I remembered, "Oh yes, this is why!"
I was maintaining pace with several other runners around me, including the 1h45m pacers, for much of the race. It was interesting chatting with those who'd run the course before and knew what to expect, versus those who hadn't, though everyone did really well and I hardly saw anyone give up and walk up the hill. I noted smugly to myself the points where I'd had to walk the first time I ran this event, and was pleased with my running progress that I no longer need to.
As an event, this was far smaller than the Great North Run, of course - a mere 3,792 runners, rather than 57,000. The crowds weren't quite out in the same force, with lots of gaps along the way but, where they were gathered, they made plenty of noise and gave lots of encouragement. One feature I really liked was that the finish line commentator obviously had access to all the chip data as runners neared the finish, and called out every single name for the crowd to cheer us across the line. That was a lovely touch that I haven't seen at any other running event.
I'd dampened down expectations of another fast time, being aware of the hill, needing to save myself for London, and because of how muggy the weather had been. As it happened, there was a nice breeze for the second half of the race and I'd forgotten how much fun the last few miles can be. I'd have been happy with sub-1h50m but, in the end, I finished in just 1h40m32s - only 2 minutes slower than my GNR time and a new PB for the course.
26.2 miles of my fundraising challenge done; 26.2 miles to go. Now I have less than a week to recover before the big one...
This was logistically the easiest of the three, being my local event, so no need for an overnight stay - just a 5k warm-up jog from home to the start line in the city centre! Running-wise, though, it's by far the steepest of them, with a ridiculous uphill climb for the first six miles. I've got the measure of it now, having run this event twice before, but there were several points I thought to myself, "Why am I doing this again?" Then I got to mile 7, with its stunning views from the top of Ringinglow, and massively enjoyable downhill sweep back into town, and I remembered, "Oh yes, this is why!"
I was maintaining pace with several other runners around me, including the 1h45m pacers, for much of the race. It was interesting chatting with those who'd run the course before and knew what to expect, versus those who hadn't, though everyone did really well and I hardly saw anyone give up and walk up the hill. I noted smugly to myself the points where I'd had to walk the first time I ran this event, and was pleased with my running progress that I no longer need to.
As an event, this was far smaller than the Great North Run, of course - a mere 3,792 runners, rather than 57,000. The crowds weren't quite out in the same force, with lots of gaps along the way but, where they were gathered, they made plenty of noise and gave lots of encouragement. One feature I really liked was that the finish line commentator obviously had access to all the chip data as runners neared the finish, and called out every single name for the crowd to cheer us across the line. That was a lovely touch that I haven't seen at any other running event.
I'd dampened down expectations of another fast time, being aware of the hill, needing to save myself for London, and because of how muggy the weather had been. As it happened, there was a nice breeze for the second half of the race and I'd forgotten how much fun the last few miles can be. I'd have been happy with sub-1h50m but, in the end, I finished in just 1h40m32s - only 2 minutes slower than my GNR time and a new PB for the course.
26.2 miles of my fundraising challenge done; 26.2 miles to go. Now I have less than a week to recover before the big one...
