Roadrunner

Yesterday I ran what was - probably - my twentieth Cardiff Half Marathon. It was special for another reason, because it was my niece Courtney Bumford’s first half marathon despite an injury. This meant that the build up was slightly different year, it meant that I didn’t faff (as much) so I could help Courtney negotiate her way to the start line. We were both supported by my sister Karen and her other daughter Chloe. The weather was overcast and a bit rainy, which wasn’t so bad. We hung out in the Park Plaza until 9:40 and weaved our way to our respective running pens.

For me it was absolutely gridlocked with people at the bottom of Queen St, so a climbed over a barrier, walked through runner, over another barrier and walked up past the Castle to the white pen, so didn’t have long to wait before the off.

I ran with roughly the same plan that I had for the Castle2Castle race, namely a steady first mile, the a faster seven miles, a fast eight miles, and a slightly slower three miles. It’s always a bit of a blizzard when it starts, and of course I had to use the toilet in the first mile. I’d also packed four gels which I planned to take at every 2nd mile. The temperature was deceptively warm and I was drenched in sweat by mile 2 and it was a matter of keeping on keeping on. The third mile on the way to the Cardiff Bay barrage is always a bit of a puff but was fine. I’d worked out that mile eight would be a good mile to kick it up a notch cause it’s a good flat stretch and goes into my home turf of Roath. I’d see a lot of friends out supporting, but what was great and give me an extra boost was seeing my sister and niece Chloe at mile eight cheering me on, it definitely helped me pick up the pace. Just before I turned the corner into the Roath Park stretch someone was holding up a sign saying ‘If you pass out we’ll pause your Garmin’ which made me laugh, “If you could that would be great!” I shouted back.

There wasn’t a point in the race where I was flying so it was a grind, but it was good to see my neighbor Steve Dixon supporting and then a Drag Queen singing on a truck at Mile Ten. I always focus on the hills at mile three and twelve but there’s a few humps that ain’t great, the road up to the Magic Roundabout is a killer, as is the slight hump up to Roath Park, but yes, the hill at mile twelve is exactly where you don’t want it, and there’s another mile to go after that.

Before I knew it I was running the last stretch through Cathays, then turning the corner at Museum place to see the beautiful beautiful finish line. A sprint finish and it was all done for another year.

Loved it despite the grind, and I was a minute quicker than last year. I did run half a mile back along the route to my house cause I’m a prick. A cold bath, a can of stout and after Courtney finished they came back to mine which was lovely. She did amazingly well considering the injury she was running with, so hopefully it’s not the last race we run together.