Bristol Half Marathon 30th

I will admit from the outset of this blog that I was more than a little nervous about today’s half marathon as, unlike previous runs, I had no excuse not to do well given the amount of training I have been doing of late (ok, doing well by my standards at the very least!)  It was this very amount of training that was making me nervous, as I would be beginning the Bristol Half on very tired legs.

Given the number of runners who had registered for the event (apparently some 10000) we opted to get into Bristol via the park and ride service operating from nearby Brislington.  This was an adventure in itself for the kids who, despite the amount of travel they have done, rarely get to catch an old-fashioned bus let alone a ‘bendy’ bus!

 Abbey made sure she would be easy to pick out in the crowd!

 Alighting from the bus it was then only a short walk towards Millennium Square and the Event Village.  The place was already teeming with runners and spectators alike with some brave souls already stripped down to their running gear despite the rather brisk temperatures of the morning. 

 I only stripped down for a quick photo before rugging up again planning on leaving my jumper to charity at the starting line

 The kids entertained themselves prior to the race – obviously up to no good!

 From my point of view this pre race period went far to quickly (with not nearly enough time for sufficient loo stops) before we were beginning to make our way to the marshalling area.  Due to the high number of runners taking part, the race itself was a two-wave start.  The elite runners and those who had put their names forward as being on the quicker side would begin at 0930 whilst us ‘normal’ people would not take off until 1000.  This meant that we could watch the beginning of Wave 1 before I had to say farewell to my support crew and go it alone.

Spectator View:

I think Paula was more concerned about how the kids and I would go waiting in the cold for her than she was about the run.  We all wandered around the runner’s village for a while with her (the kids couldn’t work out why she needed to go to the toilet so often) before setting her off on her way. 

 Somehow I managed to maneuver myself to near the front of the second wave of runners so, when the siren sounded, I was able to get into my stride quite quickly without feeling like I was tripping over those in front of me.  While we started in Bristol’s historic Harbourside, we made our way along the sea-level route out and back along the Portway, through the stunning Avon Gorge, and passing twice under Brunel’s famous Clifton Suspension Bridge.  Halfway along the Portway we hit the three-mile marker and I was pleased to discover I was ahead of my schedule (I was aiming for 9 minute miles) and had made the distance in 23:28 minutes.  I was feeling really strong and, with the route being nice and even, I attempted to keep up my pace.  It was a great course as I got to watch all the elite runners who were, by this time, running back in the other direction, so there was plenty to distract me from the actual running part of the whole affair.

By six miles I was making my way back towards the Clifton Suspension Bridge and was amazed that I had managed to clock the distance in 47:40 minutes meaning I had a little more time up my sleeve if I hoped to make the full distance in under two hours.  The course after the seven-mile marker began to weave its way back up through town along Cumberland Road and then into the old city.  I knew Nathan and the kids would be waiting somewhere around Queen Square (around the 10 mile point) so had something to look forward to.

Meanwhile….

The kids and I went and found a café for morning tea before stepping out to watch the runners who were starting to filter by.  We found a spot between 9 and 10 miles where we hoped we could see Paula run past 3 times as she did a lap of Queen Square.

We waited for Paula for about 45 minutes and kept warm by firstly watching the elite runners come past and then, when it was only the mere mortals, looking for people dressed up.  Abbey’s favourite dress up was an angel or possibly the Queen and Zac’s was Elvis.  I found the five bananas and a rat playing football the whole way pretty impressive.

 Finally Paula came into sight and the kids started screaming out to her so she would notice us. 

 Blink and you’d miss her!

When she had gone by we quickly made our way into Queen Square itself where she was surprised to see us cheering again and gave the kids a high five each as she ran by.  We got to cheer her on again as she came out of Queen Square and I must say she came past looking strong and seemed to get a boost from seeing us so often.

 We then made our way to another section of the winding course at about the 12 mile point. Paula got to us much quicker here than we expected and it was obvious she had caught quite a few runners since we had last seen her and was still running strong. We almost missed her!

 We then went to wait at the rendezvous point (the giant insect in Anchor Square) to see how she had gone.  As we didn’t know what time she had made it past the starting point we had no idea whether she would be happy or disappointed with her result.

Having seen Nathan and the kids so many times was a huge boost to the spirits particularly as, at this stage of the course, the route took us down some cobblestone streets and my feet were not appreciating the rougher surface.  The last few miles through town where jam-packed with spectators and hid the odd hill or two but I found myself enjoying it all.  It was particularly confidence building to be able to pass people who had started out on the earlier wave but had perhaps over estimated their abilities (though, to be fair I had more than one person whiz past me!).  Finally, and not before time, the 13 mile marker came into view and I could hear the commentators at the finishing line which was just around the corner up ahead.  I knew I had done well but put my head down and tried to make up a little more time on the final 100 yards.

I stopped my timer at 1:47:11 and was delighted to discover that my official finishing time came in at 1:47:12.  Out of a starting field of 9975 runners I placed a respectable 2914!!

I was funneled through the finishing area collecting my t.shirt, medal and goody bag and also being draped with a highly fashionable foil ‘cape’ (much to Abbey’s delight).  After dropping off my timing chip I finally met back up with my loyal support crew.

 Looking non too glamorous but very pleased with myself!

We had time to stop in a nearby café for some much needed lunch, and a sit down, before we began our walk back to the park and ride bus stop leaving a successful race behind us.