From Astrid

Summary: 2.5h car, 1.5h queuing in rain/mud, 1h delay of start = waiting in rain and mud, 3min warm-up, 1h20 racing, 20 min cool down, 2.5h car – 0.5h shower followed by 2.5h red wine and pizza to get over it

Steve and I decided a few months ago that one of the big city half marathons might be a nice idea to do to get a good time and Bath was supposed to be a good one – or so we thought…. Well, the weather was not on our side with lots of cold rain and wind which also meant that the “athletes village” was transformed into a vast mud plane. Our numbers had not arrived in time and we had to queue with 100s of others, whose numbers also did not arrive in said mud plane. We then were told that the race was delayed by 1h (yes you read correctly: 1h!) as St. Johns did not have the appropriate tent available. Ironically that announcement came just after we had finished our 60 min pre-race energy snack…(sigh). There was only very limited shelter to spent these additional 60 mins and the organisers tannoy suggested to go into town and find a coffee shop. Instead we squeezed into the Bath rugby club house and sat for 20 mins on a beer stained carpet, desperate to get warm again. Well at least we were lucky that we didn’t find the park and ride signs to get here as it turned out it was just a “park” but not a “ride” as the buses failed to turn up. The start area was closed off so warm up before the race was not possible (if you didn’t want to warm up in the mud). Finally we started but it took us 5miles or so before I could feel my toes again. The two-loop course was actually very good, just a few undulations and lots of support all the way round. Unfortunately the drink stations were only on one side of the road and in the second lap you had to weave very fast and skilfully (I admit - bit of a contradiction after 8 miles of hard running) through the slower runners to get to your drink (I shall enter us for next years agility at Crufts).
In the end, out of 15000 entered, 10054 finished, Steve did 1:19,13 (128th) testing running at different heart rates and Astrid 1:20,17 (150th, 13th lady 3rd V35, all preliminary results) – so no PBs – lots of lessons learned – and we felt a well deserved glass of wine afterward. Next? The count down to Bonn half marathon started straight away (well after that red wine…)