Race Report: Macclesfield Half-marathon 28/09/2014

It's been a long time since I had a go at the half marathon distance and with so many ultras and Marathon distance races ahead of me I thought it would make a nice change to have a go at my favourite distance. 

Fun at the start

Having a scout round I noted the Macc half and not only was it local it was only a week before Chester marathon so all in all I thought it might be a good bit of training. A shout out to the club Facebook page failed to generate any interest which was a little disappointing being it was a local run. However, what I didn't realise was that most of my club colleagues would be engaged in looking for treasure in Sandbach in the annual club treasure hunt , whether they found it or not remains to be seen as I write this.

So off I went on a very pleasant Sunday morning heading through the leafy lanes to Macc.
On arrival I parked up and went to register at the leisure centre, I paid my £24 inclusive of a £4 on the day fee due to my lazyness in pre entering and got my number. What was not pleasant was my really aching hamstrings from my new weekly activity of Kettlecise on a Thursday night. I did actually think of pulling out following a bad nights sleep but thought with some good stretching and a can of redbull running on aching legs may in fact offer some benefit for what I have planned in the next few weeks. 

More fun to amuse the kids

So I had been warned that this was a tough course, plenty of hills and Terry had sent me a message warning me about going out too fast. My goal was simply to run the whole course and try and come in under 2 hours. As I left the car to go to the start of the race the temperature was stating 20 on the car display which is barmy for A late September and would mean that I would be in for a hot run. 

The start started actually on the running track which other than reminding me that I need to set up another club track night brought back horrors of having to run around a track over 100 times in the déjà vue marathon twice. The start included a lap and a half around the track which meant that seeing I started at the very back and took over 44 seconds to get across the start line would mean I got the famous congleton park run shout of "keep left" bellowed out by the Marshall cycling around with the leaders. As we then headed off on to the road and out in to the town I couldn't help thinking how warm it was. The first few miles seemed to be very much downhill and I couldn't help but hear Terry's message in my head about not going off too fast. I was running at about 8-30 mm and happily plodding along in the sunshine listening quietly to my music and low enough that I could hear the marshals instructions when I finally saw a familiar face. The familiar face was of Jon Tatham Macc harrier and husband of strider Elaine. Jon had promised me a beasting and gave a good shout out to hurry up as to not disappoint. 

so this is what a lead car looks like then.

I was still to yet really encounter a big hill or even a long one, there had been a few climbs but nothing major. Then I think it must of been around about the 4 and a half mile mark that I began a climb and it seemed to go on for ever, it was at least a mile and was starting to really test me. However I believe I am made of sterner stuff now days and just simply kept going and found myself passing many a struggling runner going up the hills. What I did find quite amusing was a lady said that I should try fell racing or trail running as I appeared to have the stamina to go up hills. I didn't have the heart to tell her that actually me running on the road was a rarity for me nowadays. 

on track at the start

As the run went on it was obvious as to what Terry was talking about, this was now gruelling hill climbing of quite a tall order. At 8 miles I encountered a very steep hill that brought me to a crawl but I kept at it and kept on pushing through. What kept me going through the tougher moments was the thought of the two deaths mentioned at the start and the minute silence and how life can have such a habit of kicking you in the gonads at unfortunate times. One was for a member of Macc harriers whom sadly lost his life in a climbing accident a few weeks ago and the other for a young 26 year old girl whom lost her life to cancer, such a tragedy at such a young age. 

As I moved on through the miles and some more tough hills I started to realise what was happening to me. I felt really comfortable munching away at the miles but clearly my speed was now dropped to about 9.20mm due to the hills but I felt quite good. What has happened with all this distance running is that I appear to of gained some great stamina to keep going but this has reduced my speed somewhat, not too much but a little, either that or I was suffering with the hills and heat. 

As I finally reached mile 12 I had been told that it was all downhill from here, a little like life after 40 allegedly one of the kind locals pointed out, she got a bit of a shock when I told her I was actually only 33 (I'm 46 and proud) ha ha. As the run to the finish came along I dragged a couple of younger runners with me by reminding them that I was twice their age and ahead of them. They took up the challenge and we upped the pace back to the running track which incidentally goes up hill before joining the track for the last 100 meters. With a shout out from the lively compare I checked the clock to see that I hadn't broken 2 hours but was 2 mins behind my goal, but the important thing was that I was feeling good, not good enough to run around again it was far too hot for that but good enough to stand up and take my excellent goody bag which include the most bizarre gift of all, a hairy bikers low fat cooking sauce. No medal bling but a nice T-shirt which is way to big for me, I should of realised that with my recent weight loss I need to be ordering the medium instead of the large. 

Soaking up the sunshine at the finish line

So all in all this is an event that I would recommend for anyone wishing to take a tough little half on. Hilly, but not punishing, superbly organised and very very friendly  Club people a great mix of athletes and fun runners a nice goody bag if not a little pricey. The run was all on road and it was mainly open roads but with little traffic other than one point when the Manchester chapter of the hells angels came buzzing past on their Harley's choking me with exhaust fumes. 

Definitely one worth supporting for the future, next for me is busy October, Chester marathon, Round Rotherham 50 and Snowdon marathon and if my legs are still attached to my body a weeks annual leave in Amsterdam.

Keep plodding 

Paul N