EDF Birmingham Half Marathon - 23 October 2010...

Distance: 13.1 miles

In a time of...
hh:mm:ss
01:12:30 Personal Best!!!

Finishing Position: 22
Number of finishers: 8000
Putting me in the top: 0.27%

Around a month after the Kenilworth Half Marathon, I was keen and eager to get stuck into the Birmingham half. Being a fairly big event there was inevitably going to be some great running talent there, which would mean the race field was busier and more competitive, which would hopefully combine with a course faster than that of Kenilworth, to gain me a new PB, the question was, was my 2010 target of 'sub 73mins' possible?

I'd set the target of running a half marathon in under 73mins at the turn of the new year - it was a very ambitious goal at the time, but you've got to aim high eh? I knew I'd ran a very good race at Kenilworth, so my performance at Birmingham would depend on a few factors; the weather being suitable, me being able to pace myself well, competitive spirit and the benefit of having other fast runners around me to 'pull me along', and finally, how much faster the course was than Kenilworth! I predicted a 73:30 finish, but secretly hoped I would get nearer to the 73min mark.

The course was revised from 2009's race, but followed a similar theme, a fast downhill first mile, and a tough, draining climb in the latter miles - the course was otherwise pretty fast and flat, with fairly gentle gradients.

Sadly the organization was somewhat of a shambles... toilets were a nightmare to find and get to, and as I stood on the start line ready to run with minutes to go to the start of the race, I could see crowds of runners ambling up the road and crossing the course with no chance of getting to the start before the intended start time. Alas the start was delayed for what felt like an eternity. Once we were underway, the initial charge was soon dulled into a jog as the course narrowed dramatically within 100m of the start line - smooth moves organisers! If I was only a few rows off the front of the race at the start and nearly had to drop to a walk, I dread to think what it was like for the masses.

The first mile was fast - and I made the effort to take it steady as fresh legged runners flew past me with ease. The course leveled off and I settled into a rythym, running alongside a runner of seemingly similar ability, we worked together to ensure a strong pace was maintained and this continued for many miles.

The course was a bit 'out and back' running a reasonable section along a road, with a loop at the end before returning back in the opposite direction down the same road. It was at this point that I realised just how big the event was - as far as the eye could see the half of the road still on their 'out' section was just packed heel to toe with runners spilling out onto the side of the road on the return section. I felt for those who were trying to overtake but couldn't due to being overcrowded, but it was very awkward and frustrating to be running at full pelt and at the same time being prepared to dodge runners stepping out in front of you whilst coming in the other direction.

Myself and this other runner picked up a third runner and continued to run as a group, the third runner picked up the pace a few times and I would struggle to stay with him, but knew that as soon as I let the two other runners get ahead, I would start falling away from them and my pace would drop if I were to run alone... so I dug in and made every effort to hang onto them.

We were slowly closing in on another guy dressed in black... it seemed we were chasing him for miles (and we were!) but eventually we caught up with him, and the group became a four. This was shortly before the big climb around 10-11mi.

I'm not the best climber, and as we hit the climb I had to dig even deeper than I had been already, but halfway up the long, seemingly neverending ascent, I fell apart - the group got away from me and there was nothing I could do about it. I continued to plod on and work hard following in the shadow of the group that were progressively getting away. I received some unexpected support in the latter stages of the climb as I ran past good friend and organiser of Wedgnock / Threshold races, Rob Minton - he later told me I "looked like shit". Thanks Rob, thanks.

I tried to work and close the gap that had opened up on the climb to the group I was previously running with, and just as I felt I was starting to close up to one of the guys, he turned off the course and just jogged off down one of the side roads. It was as if he lived in the area and had decided he was just going to use the race as a training run and jog home rather than finish. "Ah well... that's one position gained" I thought to myself.

With probably one more mile to go I was caught by a guy who I think (memory is a little fuzzy) I passed on the dreaded climb. He was very supportive and egged me on to stay with him and keep pushing... which I did as best I could, we got closer to the finish and he was pushing harder, urging me to stay with him, at which point I was going as hard as I could without changing up a gear and going into an all out sprint. I was mentally preparing myself for that moment and I knew that I should be able to maintain a finishing burst for quite a reasonable distance as the finishing straight was slightly downhill.

We neared the finish, and I could hear the crowds echo down the street. I knew I was nearly there and this other runner shouted along the lines of "come on... 200m to go, push hard!", at which point I looked up and saw a sign "500m to go", so whilst I was poised to sprint all out, I knew I couldn't maintain it for 500m so relaxed a little, holding myself back for the inevitable sprint. Within 50m of seeing the sign though the finish line came into sight, and it couldn't have been more than 150m away! I exploded into an all out sprint and passed the guy who'd been encouraging me along for the past mile or so... part of me felt terrible because he'd obviously been holding off to help me - but I was running for time and didn't want to ease off to let him pass (I mean I did want him to pass, but not at the expense of me losing time!). AT the same time I was chuffed to have outsprinted somebody, heheh, I even noticed a rise in the crowd's cheering, as we battled over the final 100m in an all out sprint.

Finishing time of 1:12:30... over the moon with that, a massive improvement since last year.