Why do I love it? Well first for all the obvious reasons: it's right on my doorstep, I always know plenty of people taking part and plenty of others who will be lining the street as spectators. Some people have a whinge about the choice of route, which makes two loops of the city centre, but I personally think the organisers have come up with a great run. The race starts alongside Jesus Green and Midsummer Common and then heads away from the centre to cross the river on what is normally a busy dual carriageway (it is closed in one direction for the race). Many people complain that this part of the route is quite uninspiring, but I argue that if you look to your left as you cross the river you get a great long distance view of the city. By mile 2 you are then running close to the river and not far from the historic city centre. Soon you are running past some of the most iconic colleges in Cambridge: Magdalene, Trinity, St John's, King's, Queen's and many others. The route also passes the Fitzwilliam Museum and runs through the main shopping street in Cambridge and past the 12th century Round Church. What's not to like? I do have a preference for races that only have one large loop, but I'm quite happy to do two loops when the route is as inspiring as this one through Cambridge.
I never know in advance who is going to be out on the course cheering on the runners, so it's always a great surprise when I see and hear someone I know in the crowd shouting out my name. The run attracts a large number of spectators but it is always great to be cheered on by someone you know. This is another reason why I love this event. The route also passes right in front of the Sweaty Betty shop and the girls in the shop always do a great job of cheering on the runners. If you didn't know, I happen to coach their run club and I always feel as if their decibel level increases whenever they see me.
The night before the run I went out for a pasta meal with some of the girls from the Sweaty Betty running club. This year a few of the girls brought along their boyfriends so that I wouldn't be the solitary male in the group, although I never have any objection to this. I find it amusing watching others in the restaurant trying to work out why there would be just one male amongst a large group of women. During the meal we made arrangements to meet at the usual run club meeting point before the run started.
The weather this year was a repeat of two years ago, with bright spring sunshine and temperatures approaching 18 degrees Celsius. Last year we had freezing weather and a mix of snow and sleet which kept some runners and many spectators away. As the start time drew nearer more and more Sweaty Betties and a few other running friends met up under the not quite so central lamp post on Midsummer Common. I definitely enjoyed seeing so many of my running friends out for the event, and was quite proud to think that I was actually responsible for helping some of them get to the start line.
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| Meeting with the Betties and Beasts before the race. |
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| My long time running friend, Jamshid. I seem obsessed with doing a "power to the people" salute. |
I wasn't quite sure what sort of form I was going to be in for the half marathon. I hadn't done much in the way of speed training in recent weeks, and I had run two marathons and one multi-day ultra so far this year. My expectation was that I'd finish in about 1 hour 25 minutes, so I had sort of planned to run at a pace of around 6'25" per mile. Needless to say I ran the first mile much quicker than this, and then found myself running at about 6'10" average over the first 3 miles. I was trying to settle myself into a manageable pace when I passed the Sweaty Betty shop at 2.5 miles, the cheer I got from the girls raised my heart rate and quickened my pace and I found myself unintentionally sprinting past several runners as I passed the shop. I kept telling myself to ease off the pace, which I only achieved by the third mile. By this stage I was running close to someone who seemed to be going at my pace, so I made it my aim to stick with him.
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| The Sweaty Betty support team. |
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| Passing the Sweaty Betty shop (next to Rohan) - this is my technique for high speed cornering. |
Once I'd completed my first lap I think I had seen someone I knew in the crowd at almost every half mile point. I was aware that I was still running faster than I had intended, but everything was feeling good and I was really enjoying the run.
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| Running through the heart of Cambridge |
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| On Jesus Green and just over one mile from the finish. |
Many people later complained about the heat, but it was just right for me. I was having problems with the water pouches that were being handed out. I only got one out of six to work o.k. Most just delivered their water as a fine spray and I had to tear the spout off with my teeth in order to get a drink, but I'd lose half the water in the process. On one occasion I squeezed the water pouch to get a drink, but all that happened was that the whole pouch burst and I lost all the water in one go. That then meant running another 3 miles before I had another opportunity for a drink. By the time I crossed the line I was very thirsty and really glad of the alcohol free beer that was being handed out, which tasted like the finest nectar on Earth.
I crossed the line in a time of 1 hour 23 minutes 18 seconds. This was quicker than I was expecting so I was very happy with the run. I later also found out that my time was about 20 seconds quicker than the previous year, and not one minute slower, which I initially suspected.
Once I'd collected my bag I waited near the agreed meeting point to cheer on my friends. I was just in time to see my client, Robert, run past. I then went to the finish line to meet him and in doing so missed about four of the Sweaty Betties run past. Robert ran a new PB by about 3 minutes to finish just under 1 hour 36 minutes, so that was another good result from the day.
Back at the meeting point I cheered on the various Sweaty Betties as they passed me, along with other runners I knew. I did miss several people who must have past in a blur, or as I was distracted in conversation. As the Sweaty Betties started to appear at the meeting point they all seemed to have big grins on their faces, and it seemed that everyone had really enjoyed themselves. Well almost everyone. One of the Betties was seriously affected by dehydration and heat exhaustion and had to be helped across the finish line and then to the medical tent. Thankfully, she recovered o.k. and was up on her feet and walking after a couple of hours.
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| Lots of happy runners with their alcohol free beer after the run. |
On the whole it had been a fantastic day. There were some great times, too many for me to mention and I'm bound to forget someone. And of course the most important thing is having the courage to take part and then making it to the finish line.
The weekend that is now rapidly approaching I will be taking part in a special parkrun on Saturday and running in the Pitsford Marathon in Northamptonshire on Sunday.
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