So yesterday it was the day of the Brathay Half Marathon and my first ever attempt at the distance. My training had not gone to plan but it was too late to do any more! I dragged my children out the door at 8:15 when my dad came to collect us and we headed up to Brathay for the event:
I saw lots of people I know from either running or just from being local and the atmosphere was lovely. After the marathoners had set off we were led by drummers to the starting point on the road:
A gun went off and we all set off on the 13.1 mile route... After the crowds thinned down I started using the interval feature on my watch to control my pace and preserve my stamina. I still managed to find time to chat to other runners whilst going! Its a stunning if hilly route through the Lake District countryside and the honeypot village of Hawkshead. There was plenty of support all the way. It was a relief to reach the half way turn point though after 1 hour and 15 minutes in the sun:
For a couple of miles after this I ran with a couple of lovely ladies back the way we had come. At this point I was ignoring the intervals and running down hills and walking up them! By the time I got to mile 11 I was struggling to run at all even though it was a lot of down hills and nice and cool in the trees:
My children had been waiting for me and were panicking as I was later than scheduled but I texted my dad when I got to the drive and my son came to assist me and try to get me running again (that drive was steep!!). Once we rounded the corner and the finish was in sight I managed to get my legs going again:
After taking that photo my daughter joined us for a family sprint across the line:
Such a relief to finish even if 8 minutes slower than I wanted but 2 hours 53 minutes is a respectable debut half on a hilly route and 382nd out of 403:
more pics in this slideshow:
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