The day started out promisingly enough. Abbey gave us a small scare coming down with a temperature overnight and ending up in our bed. She woke bright and early (and before our alarm) announcing that she felt fabulous – I, on the other hand, felt just like I had lost about 4 hours sleep, funny that! We had organised to farm both kids off with friends for their various Sunday activities. Zac went off to his rugby coach (he is good friends with his son, CJ who is the captain of the team) where he was welcomed with pancakes for breakfast before heading off for a tournament at Chippenham. Abbey, now bouncing with energy, was dropped at her friend Charlie’s house as the two of them had not one, but two birthday parties to attend. Free at last, Nathan and I drove out of the crisp, but bright and sunny, Corsham weather, into the thick fog blanketing Bath where we planned to make use of the park and ride facilities at Lansdowne.
Following the suggestions of the race day organisers, we were parked and on the bus around 830am. Things were starting to get busy even then as race entrants and their support crews began to make their way to the venue. It was lucky, when reaching town, that the signs to the runner’s village were bright red else we may have had a hard time finding our way through the fog!
Finding our way to the runners village via Pultney Bridge
With a few hours to kill before the big race, we made good use of the port-a-loo facilities and topped up on liquids whilst wandering around soaking up the atmosphere. We caught up with the one friend we knew to be running, Andrew, who would be starting ahead of us in the “Green” section. On filling in our applications sometime last year I had put 02:30hrs as our possible race time and so we were in the “Orange” section at the tail of some 12000 entrants. Andrew’s “Green” put him in the middle section with the elite runners and those faster amateurs up with the “White”. I did note that we seemed to have far more of the fancy dress brigade in our section spotting clowns, lions, fairies, a bride and the occasional giant breast (running in aid of breast cancer research of course!).
The race start & end point (still setting up)
Milling around the village
In seemingly no time at all it was 1030 and we were being called forth to make our way to our allocated starting positions. The sun was finally showing itself and the fog clearing which boosted spirits along the way. After one final loo break we found ourselves nestled in a Bath side street with 1000s of our closest friends awaiting the starters gun.
The view both in front and behind us!
11 o’clock on the dot the gun was fired and, well, we simply stood still waiting for the crowd in front to get a move on. I must say, after spending hours in training, this static start was a little bit of a downer, if not entirely unexpected. Nathan and I simply held hands (of course, while we do love each other, we also did not want to get separated in the crowd!) and walked towards the official start line. After about 6 minutes, there it was and we broke into a slow jog as those ahead of us finally began to pick up the pace. There was no turning back now!
The Bath Half is advertised as a fast flat course, straddling both sides of the river Avon and avoiding all the hills surrounding the City, and thank god for that! It consists a two-lap course starting and finishing at the same point in Great Pulteney Street - with a roadway spanning 46 feet - one of the widest Georgian boulevards in Europe and a course that threads through the heart of this historic city.
The first mile was gently downhill from Pulteney Road to Churchill Bridge. We were told to resist all temptations to go off too fast but I don’t see how we could possibly have managed any sort of pace with the number of people crammed onto the course at this point. The crowds were also very large and very vocal and it was a fantastic feeling just being part of it all.
We then began our first lap, which took us from Churchill Bridge, gently rising up past Green Park Station, with a gentle 'pull' round Queen Square (the most crowded spot for spectators on the course with a samba band to entertain us). We felt really strong at this point and set about making up for some of the lost time in the first mile. At this point I would like to stress that we were not attempting anything unreasonable. We had both regularly run below 10-minute miles throughout our training and simply settled into this easy pace. It was quite a challenge just weaving in and out amongst the other runners and attempting not to trip or be tripped in process.
Next it was down Charlotte Street and out along the Upper Bristol Road, gently undulating along Newbridge Road, and a longer 'pull' up to the 'New Bridge' at the beginning of the dual carriageway. We were nearing the 4-mile marker when the race leader (think he may have been Kenyan) came sprinting past on his way to complete the entire course record of 01:01:01! I don’t think I would be capable of completing one mile at the pace he was going let alone just over 13.
From the 'Twerton Fork' the race headed back towards the City centre, pancake flat along Lower Bristol Road (we helped ourselves to an energy drink along the way), before crossing over Churchill Bridge and up Green Park again for the beginning of the second lap, yep, we got to do all that again!
At this point we were both still feeling very strong and managing to maintain a steady pace that should see us cross the line in just under 02:10 hours. The day was really warming up now and runners were dropping like flies and more than one ambulance whizzed past us as we plodded along. By the 9-mile marker, Nathan informed me that his right calf muscle was a little cramped but that he still felt fine. Ok, our pace slowed slightly but we were still right on track. Come the 10-mile marker and he was no longer really talking to me and we slowed down a little more. He did suggest that I just leave him and try for a better time, but, we had entered into this together, and were going to finish it together so I stuck with my man.
At the end of the second lap we made our way across Churchill Bridge, finally rising gently (but remorselessly!). Nathan was not looking his best at this point so his sudden burst of speed took me by surprise and I had to up my tempo to keep up. We were then back up on Pulteney Road with the finish in sight and it was a very, very dramatic last 200 metres in Great Pulteney Street. With about 20 metres to go Nathan suddenly uttered a string of expletives and simply stopped. Next thing I knew he started to stagger and turned white as a sheet. Luckily a race official came to my aid and between us we walked a very cramped Nathan across the finishing line….and on to a waiting stretcher.
Yes, my darling husband had given it all he had and no one could ask for more. It was not the best feeling in the world to end your first half marathon escorting your husband to the medical tent. He was still pale and none too coherent as I had to leave him and run off to collect our bag so at least he would have a warm jumper to put on. Somehow I managed to push my way through the throng of finishers, pick up our race medals and goody bags (finally got my t-shirt) as I was channeled though the collection points, drop off my timing chip and queue jump to collect our back pack. I then had to dodge security to get back up the hill to the medical tent. I was quite apprehensive about what state Nathan would be in and was more than a little relieved to finding him sitting up and more than a little amused to hear him telling the young, blonde, physio massaging his legs; “Yeah, that’s it. Do that again. Oh, that feels good.” In all fairness the same phrases came out when she was replaced by a male colleague and Nathan was enough of his old self to announce he normally wouldn’t say that to another man (I think this physio was a little relieved!). The volunteer medical staff were simply fabulous and were being kept very busy.
Not exactly the finish I would have scripted but at least he was all right in the end!
Now that I could relax and put my panic behind me it finally dawned on me that we had done it. Our first Half Marathon was behind us and we had managed to finish it together in a time of 02:14:02 and 02:14:03. In a finishing field of 10701 runners we were placed 7461 and 7463 and very proud of it!
It took a little while longer before Nathan’s cramp had subsided and he felt strong enough to leave the medical tent. We still had to catch the bus back up to the car and, poor Nathan had to drive home as without thinking we had brought his car along – and your’s truly can not drive a manual and today was not the day to learn!
We picked Zac up along the way to discover his friend CJ had had to be taken by ambulance to hospital after ending up on the bottom of the pack. Luckily they suspect he has just a strained ligament in his leg. Zac, on the other hand was more than pleased to announce he had scored a try! Abbey came home about an hour later tired but still buoyant after her day of partying. Feeling a tad more normal, if a little weary, Nathan and I finally popped the cork on our bottle of Moet (purchased duty free on our last overseas jaunt) and sat back to reflect on the dramas of the day.
There really is no rest for the wicked though with Nathan up before 5am the next morning and out the door just after bound for Harstad, Norway, and two weeks of sea riding in the Arctic Circle on a British War Ship. At 0530am Abbey made her way into bed with me with a roaring temperature and dawn saw Zac also unfit for school. How am I faring you might ask, well, I am a little tired in the legs and could do with a few more hours sleep but I have already got our names down for a second Half Marathon, the Sarsen Trail – which finishes at Stonehenge! – and have set my sights on the Bristol Half in September. Yep, feeling good to go!
OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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