I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so relaxed about an event. I was almost apathetic, indifferent to the Cambridge Half. The original aim had been to target 1:50:00, training, illness, fitness and carrying too much weight meant that wasn’t going to happen. Not having a target freed from worry. Mentally I found myself with an uncluttered mind for the first time in months.
Joel had enquired as to what I was aiming for, I casually stated a sub 2 would be nice, but I wasn’t fussed, miles for Larmer a week later would be good. He had toyed with an attempt at 2:15 and I’d offered to pace, but he didn’t feel overly confident so we parked that idea.
On the morning of the event I quickly checked what a sub 2 pace would be; 5:41/km, gulp, quicker than anything distance wise I’d managed for a while, but races always give you a little performance boost.
After a midweek run around the forest with Simon at Hatfield Forest parkrun summer course record holder Jack, I felt in decent shape. I found my groin / abductor playing up a bit, but not enough to stop running (doesn’t hurt whilst running). I should really get that checked before Berlin training starts in earnest.
I was that ambivalent to the race that it wasn’t until around half nine in the evening that I found the race pack! With a half five alarm set I managed to get all of my stuff together, no double or triple checking either, this was like a new me!
It had been nice and warm during the day as a group of us had installed permanent signage for Great Notley parkrun. It was nice to sign off my time there by contributing.
After a quick bath, yes the bath is finally back in business!!!! I was off to sleep, ready for what would be my 15th half marathon in the morning.
Joel had enquired as to what I was aiming for, I casually stated a sub 2 would be nice, but I wasn’t fussed, miles for Larmer a week later would be good. He had toyed with an attempt at 2:15 and I’d offered to pace, but he didn’t feel overly confident so we parked that idea.
On the morning of the event I quickly checked what a sub 2 pace would be; 5:41/km, gulp, quicker than anything distance wise I’d managed for a while, but races always give you a little performance boost.
After a midweek run around the forest with Simon at Hatfield Forest parkrun summer course record holder Jack, I felt in decent shape. I found my groin / abductor playing up a bit, but not enough to stop running (doesn’t hurt whilst running). I should really get that checked before Berlin training starts in earnest.
I was that ambivalent to the race that it wasn’t until around half nine in the evening that I found the race pack! With a half five alarm set I managed to get all of my stuff together, no double or triple checking either, this was like a new me!
It had been nice and warm during the day as a group of us had installed permanent signage for Great Notley parkrun. It was nice to sign off my time there by contributing.
After a quick bath, yes the bath is finally back in business!!!! I was off to sleep, ready for what would be my 15th half marathon in the morning.
Pre Race
Chuffing cold. I was absolutely chuffing cold wandering Midsummer Common. I’d followed the instructions and got there early. I had nearly two hours to kill after the park and ride dropped us off. I need to get myself some nice elasticated jogging bottoms to take to races, my knees were knocking with cold and I was far too lazy to take my running shoes off and put jeans on. Nearly five years a runner and still learning this stuff.
I parked myself next to the Erdinger Alkoholfrei Beer stand to catch folks as they came in. Fellow HFPR core team colleague Sam was also running, aiming for a 1:54 so I’d not be running with him!
Fellow Um Bongo cohorts Joel and Fergie arrived, Ferg outdoing me in the cold stakes by being in only his running gear! We queued up for 20 minutes for a tea to get halfway down the line and realise no one really wanted a tea by the time we’d get to the front of the line! For once I wasn’t full of nervous energy, so constantly rejoining the toilet line wasn’t necessary. Bag drop was a nightmare, thankfully Nic had the buggy and was happy to hold bags. As ever an event was slightly underdone in terms of toilets and bag drop volunteers. As I was in a good place this wasn’t playing on my anxieties though.
I parked myself next to the Erdinger Alkoholfrei Beer stand to catch folks as they came in. Fellow HFPR core team colleague Sam was also running, aiming for a 1:54 so I’d not be running with him!
Fellow Um Bongo cohorts Joel and Fergie arrived, Ferg outdoing me in the cold stakes by being in only his running gear! We queued up for 20 minutes for a tea to get halfway down the line and realise no one really wanted a tea by the time we’d get to the front of the line! For once I wasn’t full of nervous energy, so constantly rejoining the toilet line wasn’t necessary. Bag drop was a nightmare, thankfully Nic had the buggy and was happy to hold bags. As ever an event was slightly underdone in terms of toilets and bag drop volunteers. As I was in a good place this wasn’t playing on my anxieties though.
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| Pre Race – Smiling far too much |
On my way to the start it said hello to a couple of folks I’d recognised from our parkrun fundraiser. It was great to start seeing folks from what will be our Hatfield Forest community.
The Race
There appeared to be three two hour pacers, yet they’d decided to run as a group, which is bizarre as you usually split them up a bit within a pen to stop massive bunches of runners. The start was very prompt and within a couple of minutes I crossed the line, the pacers already blasting off. I wasn’t going to try and hang with them, I knew 5:41/km would deliver me across the line in two hours and I had no idea how the race itself would go.
You’ll often hear of people starting too fast, it has certainly been the case for me in other races. I’m now finding though that once a race has a decent number of runners (4,500 at Cambridge) you’ll generally find yourself slower than expected in the first kilometre due to everyone being quite compact. I’ve tried to start at pace before and found myself getting wound up and frustrated. This was almost the zen race so I just accepted it for what it was.
The first kilometre was also slightly uphill, no point over exerting and I wasn’t surprised to get through just shy of six minutes, 18 seconds in deficit. Here the experience of this being my 15th half allowed me to relax, just get into a rhythm and everything will sort itself out.
Another second over in the second click, but that was a good indicator that I’d already settled into a pace. Cambridge was as flat as I could remember and after some ring road fun we were treated to the first entry into the city centre.
It was barely half nine and I was already searching out shade, the sun did indeed have it’s hat on, hip hip hooray, unless you’re a runner of course! Some tight turns throughout the city made the course challenging for a pancake flat one, the only hill of note during the first lap was merely a steep bridge!
I felt good and by five kilometres was on track and consistently under target pace. An elongated out and back gave me a chance to see Joel on the course. A bit more on the course here. OSB the organisers had put together a nearly nice loop that included three visits into the city centre. Here a combination of supporters and bemused tourists gave a big event feel, as did proper barricades with the title sponsor branded across them. Compared with the Helsinki City Run, this felt very much like an event being embraced by the city.
After the third city section we were heading back out towards Midsummer Common. A brief chat with a parkrunner from Wimpole was rudely interrupted by some clown purposefully barging through people and then giving the finger. Sadly in an event of nearly five thousand people there’s always going to be one arsehole (I did spot his runner number later on, just saying OSB….). On the whole it felt like a very sociable event.
I soon found myself at the start of the second lap and thanks to some consistent kilometres under target by around a minute. I was into my supply of High 5 gels by this point, though feeling good I was guarding against my trademark 10 mile fade.
Instead I found myself maintaining pace, slightly slower than 4-10km, but still either just over or under target pace. In fact, my pace held up throughout and I found time to chat with various other runners as we wound through the city. The support was absolutely fantastic.
As I approached Midsummer Common for a second time I felt good, but ready to call it a day. I’d managed my fuel tank nicely as I entered the final click, spotting Fergie to one side.
You’ll often hear of people starting too fast, it has certainly been the case for me in other races. I’m now finding though that once a race has a decent number of runners (4,500 at Cambridge) you’ll generally find yourself slower than expected in the first kilometre due to everyone being quite compact. I’ve tried to start at pace before and found myself getting wound up and frustrated. This was almost the zen race so I just accepted it for what it was.
The first kilometre was also slightly uphill, no point over exerting and I wasn’t surprised to get through just shy of six minutes, 18 seconds in deficit. Here the experience of this being my 15th half allowed me to relax, just get into a rhythm and everything will sort itself out.
Another second over in the second click, but that was a good indicator that I’d already settled into a pace. Cambridge was as flat as I could remember and after some ring road fun we were treated to the first entry into the city centre.
It was barely half nine and I was already searching out shade, the sun did indeed have it’s hat on, hip hip hooray, unless you’re a runner of course! Some tight turns throughout the city made the course challenging for a pancake flat one, the only hill of note during the first lap was merely a steep bridge!
I felt good and by five kilometres was on track and consistently under target pace. An elongated out and back gave me a chance to see Joel on the course. A bit more on the course here. OSB the organisers had put together a nearly nice loop that included three visits into the city centre. Here a combination of supporters and bemused tourists gave a big event feel, as did proper barricades with the title sponsor branded across them. Compared with the Helsinki City Run, this felt very much like an event being embraced by the city.
After the third city section we were heading back out towards Midsummer Common. A brief chat with a parkrunner from Wimpole was rudely interrupted by some clown purposefully barging through people and then giving the finger. Sadly in an event of nearly five thousand people there’s always going to be one arsehole (I did spot his runner number later on, just saying OSB….). On the whole it felt like a very sociable event.
I soon found myself at the start of the second lap and thanks to some consistent kilometres under target by around a minute. I was into my supply of High 5 gels by this point, though feeling good I was guarding against my trademark 10 mile fade.
Instead I found myself maintaining pace, slightly slower than 4-10km, but still either just over or under target pace. In fact, my pace held up throughout and I found time to chat with various other runners as we wound through the city. The support was absolutely fantastic.
As I approached Midsummer Common for a second time I felt good, but ready to call it a day. I’d managed my fuel tank nicely as I entered the final click, spotting Fergie to one side.
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| Finishing strongly. And colour coordinated for once…. |
The finish was misleading, you entered the common only to be diverted away for a bit of an out and back. So near, yet so far!
I didn’t feel a sprint finish would achieve anything, but the gun time clock was counting up to 2 hours so with the crowd also counting my last stride was a little leap to secure the gun time sub 2.
I didn’t feel a sprint finish would achieve anything, but the gun time clock was counting up to 2 hours so with the crowd also counting my last stride was a little leap to secure the gun time sub 2.
The Conclusion
A pleasantly surprising result, 1:57:42. My pacing and energy had been good throughout and my expectations had been surpassed. I even saw fellow core team member Sam just ahead of me in the finish funnel. He’d clocked a time only 40 seconds quicker than me & looking at our times, I was slowly reeling him in as the run continued. I’d managed to come in just behind the pack of two hour pacers, they must have been around three minutes under pace, which would have been too much for many looking to pass that threshold for the first time.
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| Sam & I more pleased with the medals than alcohol free beer |
I was very pleased with the effort. The long runs during this training cycle had all been of decent quality. Though the speed work had been minimal, once I’d skirted round the bad weather at this time of year & the coughs & colds that come with it, I’d trained relatively well for this half. This was the first time I’d been going into a half not feeling under prepared. Usually I find myself missing a couple of crucial long runs & getting to the end on fumes. During this cycle I’d had a few long slow runs over the 10 mile mark, running time rather than distance & over much more elevation than you could find in Cambridge. Given the preparation there is a lot to be happy about with this result. Sure, I could look back at what was meant to be a 1:50:00 attempt, but my focus changed very early on. This run turned into another long run practice before the Larmer Tree Half. A completely different run, except for the 21.1km distance.
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| A good quality medal |
One item of concern was that my constant partner since August was again present. More groin pain, mainly before the run & afterwards. Something must be wrong, it’s time to get this checked before marathon season starts.
The race itself was very well organised. As ever, some more toilets would make sense, especially with the amount of space on offer at Midsummer Common. Plenty that were queuing would have either missed the start or be running round with full bladders. The PA was clear, though way too loud in the post race village, was like someone rudely shouting over everyone! No official photos either. £18 per digital image is just extortion. Surely at even half the price you’d sell plenty, it is a self defeating pricing policy.
The Eat
Despite a Steak & Honour van in the race village, I had eyes for only one thing. Once Joel had joined us after a 2:19, it was time for a visit to the ice cream van. Sadly £2 for a 99 Flake is par for the course at events these days, but I couldn’t care, Mr Whippy was needed after what turned out to be quite a warm run. The organisers had laid on alcohol free beer as well for every finisher. I tried to enjoy it, but firstly alcohol free takes the one main point of beer out and two, a big gassy pint isn’t what the doctor ordered.
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| Mr Whippy all round! |
I’d reserved my Cocio chocolate milk for the journey home & asked Paula to pick up some good burgers whilst out for my evening sustenance. Served in a brioche bun, with baked parma ham, brilliantly melty dutch cheese, avocado and some thousand island sauce, I’m getting good at putting these burger combos together.
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| I has burger. Very good burger. |
No rest for the wicked though, I had an afternoon of parkrun sign making before I could allow myself a chance to relax.
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| You don’t see the signs because you’re blind… |
Run for the Eat 