Four Villages Half Marathon

I last ran this race way back in 2002 as part of my preparation for my debut marathon at London.  I remember it being very undulating and finishing 4th in 68:55.  As my training for London gathered momentum, I went to the Wilmslow Half Marathon eight weeks later and ran 65:24 - a PB which still stands today!  My time at London that year was 2:21:00 - a solid debut aged 23 with no experience of marathon training/racing behind me!

Having been injured up until just before Christmas and knowing I would be merely a month back into training, I had entered this race two weeks ago and aimed to break 70mins.  I thought that without any HM specific training and the time off I had, to run at marathon pace would be a great starting point on the road to London.

Training over the last two weeks has accelerated faster than I had hoped though and I revised my target to 68mins if all went well.

The start of this race will have been a nightmare for many.  Very narrow path through a car park, covered in a thin layer of mud!  With 2000 runners toeing the line, this made getting the race underway a little problematic.  Eventually, all of the runners managed to squeeze behind the start line and away we went.  I didnt fancy getting mud flicked up at me, so made sure I went straight to the front and led the charge out of the start.  Having seen Neil Renault and Michael Aspinall on the start line and looking in good shape, I knew that these two would be up there and as we got onto the main road, it was those two who assumed the frontrunning.  For most of the first mile, they were kept company by me, Richard Kay, Ben Gamble, Stu Robinson and Owen Greene.  I covered the first mile in 5:07 and Renault/Aspinall had gained a few seconds.

Over the next few miles, the other five of us were locked together, although Robinson was hanging a few metres off the back by 3.5 miles.  4 miles in 20:19 was a bit quicker than I had hoped to be running but this group was the place to be and it was a faster first 4 miles.  I'd be happy just to hang at the back of it.

The 5th mile started to slow a bit and I took up the running to try to pick things back up towards 5:10s.  Over the next 2 miles we shared the pace between us, then at around 7 miles I decided I wanted to try to push on from the group.  I'd get a gap of 10 metres or so on a few occasions, but would always be pegged back on the downhills by the trio of Gamble/Greene/Kay.  I decided I would push even harder when we started hitting the tough hill at 9 miles but the legs were starting to wobble a bit and I was caught by Gamble and Kay as we hit the steepest downhill stretch of the course. 

At 11 miles, I calculated that my target of running 68:00 would be very tough but I hadnt accounted for a very fast final 2 miles.  In one final bid to shake off Gamble and Kay, I really went for it this time and mile splits of 4:49 and 4:51 were enough to take me away at long last.  Gamble gamely kept the gap down to 6 seconds while Kay suffered in the closing 2 miles and was caught by Greene.

Overall, I have to be pleased with my finishing time of 67:34 so soon after returning from the injury.  It's a good starting point on the road to London.  I have a few more halfs lined up in the next 10 weeks and hopefully they will get faster and easier than todays was!

Mile splits: 5:07, 5:05, 5:04, 5:03, 5:13, 5:17, 5:14, 5:28, 5:19, 5:22, 5:22, 4:49, 4:51, (5:02)

Results: 
1 Neil Renault Edinburgh AC 01:05:54
2 Michael Aspinall Tipton Harriers 01:06:05
3 Dave Norman Altrincham & District AC 01:07:34
4 Ben Gamble Tipton Harriers 01:07:41
5 Owen Green Trafford AC 01:08:02
6 Richard Kay Tipton Harriers 01:08:24
7 Stuart Robinson Blackpool & Fylde AC 01:09:40

Well done to Sarah on a big PB!!

1 Michelle Ross-Cope City of Stoke AC 01:14:29
2 Sarah Harris Long Eaton RC 01:14:49
3 Louise Gardner Lancaster & Morecambe AC 01:16:51
4 Gemma Connolly St. Helens Sutton AC 01:18:34
5 Nicki Nealon Huncote Harriers 01:21:16