Rutland Half Marathon

First Half Marathon of the year and it wasn’t going to be one that was going to be a full out race effort, due to the elevation and terrain, part road and part trail, and on the day the weather conditions were pretty awful 😂 , somethings are just out of our control.

So this was a challenge that me and my partner Anna was taking on, arriving there on the day we had about a mile or so walk to the start line first! 😂

Did my usual warm up and remembered the first part of the course, I’ve ran round Rutland many times in the past and the hill they started the race on was a killer, so I had to remember this was right at the finish to.

Got myself onto the start line, Anna saw me and wished me good luck xx

Gun goes off and we’re away, there’s about 5 of us in a pack but with in the first mile that breaks up and the first hill down, I head out in front, wise decision 🤷‍♂️ who knows but the pace was slowing down a lot so I just took it on and wanted to see what would happen, the road section through miles 2-4 ish were good and I could settle into a good rhythm, but that wind was still bartering us and was only going to get worse when we got towards the lake.

As we come off the road and around the lake the road becomes trail and the elevation starts, rolling hills gravel underfoot with the odd muddy section thrown in. Coming to around the 5 mile mark and I got over taken, now mentally I tried to put that to one side and not let my head drop, concentrate on my own performance and how my body is feeling, this seemed to work, he was pulling away from me inch by inch but my own performance wasn’t falling apart. We hit an out n back section and he could see how far behind I was, and as I rounded the turnaround I could see how far behind me 3rd place was, which I did and I never panicked when I saw him.

So now it was head down and keep working through as best I could, the conditions were tough but everyone was going through it to, god those winds where brutal 🌬️ !! And hills were rolling at this point so no chance of setting in a rhythm just be brave and grind it out. I remember coming to a gate and we was back onto the road section!

So now I’ve got around 5k to go, but it was a strange feeling cause it took me a while to find my legs from those rolling hills, managed to pick up the pace, my legs were pretty much gone but the flat roads where a blessing at this point, but I just wanted to keep these legs turning as much as I could. Coming into the final mile I remembered those 2 final hills, the first of those was tough and my legs were screaming at me to stop but as soon as i crested the top of that it was a sharp down hill which got the legs turning again and rolling down this hill I thought I was gonna fall over ! 😂 but I stayed strong and powered up the last hill to the finish line with great relief that was over and I managed to keep my 2nd 🥈 place, and great podium finish.

Went over and chatted to the winner and we exchanged stories of the race. Thank you Tim for a great race 👍🏻🏃🏼‍♂️🏃🏼‍♂️

The day finished off with the trophy presentation and an interview with local radio..

And also I have to say a huge congratulations to my girl, Anna got her sub 2 on that course and in those conditions which was amazing, very proud of you darling xxxx😘😘