The start of the Hastings Half Marathon was easily my most disastrous start yet! Our train to Hastings was supposed to get in 45 minutes before the race… of course it was delayed, leaving us less than 25. There were absolutely no sign posts and few marshals around to get directions from. We found the toilets alright, but we couldn’t find where to leave our bags. Eventually, 5 minutes before the start, we were told that it was next to the start line… but there were 5000 runners between us and the start line! We were still fighting our way through the throng when the starting horn blew. By the time we managed to drop off our bags, everyone had already crossed the line… we were the last!
The first few miles were awful… fighting past the walkers and people dressed in chicken suits, dodging and weaving, running on verges, putting in fast burst whenever a space opened up in front of me. It took 2-3 miles before there was enough space for me to go at my pace… but I already felt like I had run 6 miles.
The next few miles weren’t great either… I felt very tired and after the disastrous start I was resigned to the fact that there was no way I could improve on my personal best from T. Wells. It was also uphill all the way until the 7 mile mark and this did nothing to improve my spirits!
As I ran through the half way point, I took a split time on my watch and looked at it in disgust… almost 50 minutes! On target for a 1:40:00 time, 11 minutes slower than two weeks ago. I felt very sluggish but at least the hard part was over.
The downhill stretch was very steep and lasted just a couple of miles. I pulled back some valuable time as I bounded down the road (jarring my knees with every step).
At about mile 10, we reached the sea front. It was now a lovely flat, straight run all the way to the finish. The sun was shining and the beach sloped down to the sea on my left. I suddenly felt great! I settled into my Hyde Park perimeter pace and tore along the seafront overtaking everyone in sight. I didn’t want to look at my watch, I just ran.
I ran through the finish and stopped my watch. Final time: 1:28:05… a new personal best by 1 minute! How did I manage that?! I had run the second half in 38 minutes!
As I waited for my sister to finish, cup of tea in hand, I started to appreciate the great atmosphere. The Hastings Half Marathon had attracted hundreds of spectators. Along most stretches of the course there had been people cheering us on, handing out sweets, playing music… it was really great. I can’t imagine how the London Marathon is going to feel.
Oh and I almost forgot… my blisters were fine! Thanks to the wonderful creators of Compeed, I had no problems 
I am going to rest now until Wednesday and by then I think they should be fully healed.
So in the end the Hastings Half Marathon turned out ok. I learnt a lot and my disastrous start was good practice for the conditions that I am likely to face at the London Marathon. I think it will probably be the last official half marathon I am able to do before the London Marathon… it will be a while before I can have a shot at beating my new 1:28:05 personal best.
I guess we have all been there.This is just a training run for the big one so in some respects not using up your best time at this event could be seen as a positive. It will soon be time to put your feet up a bit and London is so well organised you won’t have any baggage problems. From my memory you need to arrive fairly early and you may then have the opposite problem of a lot of time to kill before the race.
Good luck hope this weather holds
Hey dude,
Since you are a pro marathon runner I just thought you could give me your opinion about an issue.
I’ve just posted about a challenge on my blog (Bodytweaking.com). How hard would it be for an avarage person to walk/run 137 miles in less than 24 hours?
We’re talking about a challenge organized each summer in a spanish natural park.
Hope to hear from you one of these days
Regards,
~ Wit
Nice going mate, London here you go. I’ve never quite managed to break that 90 minute mark for the half, so good on ya.
Malc
Very nice race - especially considering the rocky start.
Hey that is a Fab time for a half marathon, what time are you aiming to do in the London marathon. Best wishes. Enjoy. Girish
Nice Job! Way to get back to your pace after what sounds like a rather annoying start!
Thanks for the comment on my blog
and loving the blog. Keep up the good work and hope the flora goes ok next month 
Nice race. We seem to be on the same Half Marathon schedule, this weekend and two weeks ago. I PR’d also, though I didn’t have any chickens to contend with.