The Half Marathon

If you intend to run a half marathon, you can’t just stroll up to the start line and go for it without any preparation. You probably need to do plenty of training in advance of the event and eat healthily a few days before, or at least this is what I was told by various people. I had plenty of encouragement and kind words in addition to some who thought I’d certainly struggle and possibly not even make it around the 13 and a bit mile (21km) course. They needn't have worried though; despite my lack of preparation I didn’t do too badly!

I agreed to run the half marathon with my dad earlier in the summer; it seemed like a good idea at the time despite having never done much running before. My dad is a member of a local running club and has done a few half marathons in his time, his aim was to do the 13 and a bit miles in under two hours. As this was my first half marathon, I thought if I can keep up with him most of the way I will have done pretty well. My aim was to finish not too far behind my dad, ideally in under 2 hours and fifteen minutes.

My cousins birthday cake in the foreground with slices
of other delicious calorific cakes behind.
(Photo: Nicola Brown)

The night before the marathon I was at my cousin’s 21^st birthday party and although I didn’t drink I ate a lot of calorific cakes. My plan was to get lots of sugar into me but my girlfriend reckoned I’d just feel bloated! After crawling into bed quite late I then missed my early morning alarm. Following a super quick breakfast of Weetabix and sultanas my dad and I turned up to Victoria Park in Leicester at around 8:30am. We then spent most of the 45 minutes we had before the start of the race queuing in the rain for the porta-loos! At 9:15 we were stood before the start line in a holding pen like cattle waiting to be let out into a new pasture!

The first part of the race was a long downhill from the park into the centre of Leicester, my dad, being 6 foot 3 has long legs and bounded down the hill away from me. When we got onto the flat I managed to catch back up with him. We went through the centre of Leicester, up the famous Golden Mile and into Watermead Country Park. The rain wasn’t too heavy but there had been enough of it over the course of the morning to create lots of puddles. Up until this point I had managed to avoid most of them and my feet were still dry (maybe not completely dry, they were probably a bit sweaty). Coming over one bridge in the middle of the park there was one large puddle which we could not avoid. My socks soaked up the water like a sponge but luckily this didn’t hinder my running too much.

A staged photo of me running looking slightly
manic! My sister and girlfriend were going to
get there to watch us cross the line and take
photos, but we were too quick for them.
(Photo: Nicola Brown)

A little way out of the park we approached a water station, until this point my dad and I had been together most of the time (on the odd occasion he had managed to pull ahead but I had always managed to catch him up again). He slowed down to get some water while I carried on. We then went through Abbey Park and looking over my shoulder I could see my dad not too far behind me. The route then took us back through the centre of the city and uphill back to Victoria Park where we had started the race (the organisers of the half marathon have done very well in choosing a route that incorporated a variety of parks which I work on in my early career as a Parks Officer).

My dad and I after the race with our medals.
(Photo: Nicola Brown)

I knew the uphill back to the park was the last bit of the course, I looked back to find my dad but couldn’t spot him. I looked at my watch and was pleasantly surprised to find that I had only been running for 1hr 45mins and only had a little further to go. I felt like I still had plenty of energy (probably something to do with jelly babies I’d scoffed before and during the race) so I upped my pace and started taking over a few people while going uphill. When I got to the top of the hill I’d passed a good 15-20 people and there was only the home straight in front of me. Still having plenty of energy I decided to sprint the last few hundred meters and finished in 1hr 51 minutes. I stood stretching out on the better side of the finish line for my dad to cross. He was only 2 minutes behind me, finishing in 1hr 53 minutes. He achieved his goal of completing it under 2hrs and I completely smashed my target of 2hrs 15mins! Looking at the official finishing positions online it turns out I finished 657^th and my dad 742^nd out of over 2500 runners! To get into the top 100 I need to shave 20 minutes off my time… a challenge for next year maybe.?.?.?

I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far. I have now raised £385 through sponsorship for the Half Marathon and have been promised at least £830 from local Bat Groups and Wildlife Trusts, totalling £1215 towards the cost of DNA analysis of my bat poo. I am only £785 short of my of £2000 target. If you would still like to sponsor me you can do. Please visit http://doodle.com/3gdu7dfy3phrsrkgmhf96vdk/admin?#table include your name and how I know you and click how much you would like to donate.

I am studying for a self-funded MSc at the University of Bristol with equipment and support from the Bat Conservation Trust http://www.bats.org.uk/ and training and guidance from Daniel Whitby of AEWC Ltd. If you would like to contact me about my research please email: philip.brown@bristol.ac.uk