Silverstone milestone – done!
Another landmark in more ways than one! The famous British motor racing circuit was host to the Adidas 1/2 Marathon, the official half-distance pre-cursor to the main event. 10,000 lined up on the starting grid awaitng the cheesy but inevitable chequered flag.
An event of this scale takes some organisation. There was already an army of volunteers, officials and medical staff getting sorted when I arrived at about 9am. Lucozade had a tented stand giving free drinks and race pace bands that tell you where you shold be at each mile if you are aiming for a specific time. Adidas had a big sales tent and there were food stalls in addition to the breakfast cafe where I based myself for my pre-run fuelling. Having got changed etc and left our bags in the appropriate garages, we were called to the track. The course involved 3 laps of various parts of the course, including the main track, service roads and the perimeter road. With a start time of 12 we began to line up about 11.20. Although a sunny morning there was a brisk wind, so runners’ attire varied from shorts and vests to long-sleeved thermal tops and hats.
They announced at 11.50 that due to traffic problems the race was being delayed by 20 minutes. In my head I knew that had I stayed at home I could have run further and been back home already. I questionned whether I had made the rigth decision in bothering to drive 2 hours up to the Midlands. As the start was so delayed, and everyone had been taking in fluid all morning, there was a sudden exodus of men leaping over the barrier to relieve themselves of some of this fluid against the perimeter fencing! For the rest of the runners the sight of about 500 men all in the same pose but in a bright array of running wear was comical, but for the thousands of spectators in the grandstand it must have beeen even funnier. A great cheer went up, as although they couldn’t see anything below the neck, the sight of so many men standing with head slightly bowed could only mean one thing. And just as the initial rush of men was dying out, two brave women joined the line up, gallantly protected by 4 or 5 blokes who stood around them. They still got the biggest cheer of the day!
The run itself was flat and fast, despite avoiding the bits of tyre tread that littered the track. As a race circuit, they have a tannay system for commentary so they kindly pumped soem music through it to keep us entertained as we plodded along. It did seem to be mainly S Club 7 and Michael Jackson, but nonetheless it helped pass the boredom. However, they did also keep giving updates on the race itself at the head of the field. I know this because exactly as I crossed the 8 mile marker they announced the winner crossing the line. He had beaten me by exactly 5.1 miles!! Incredible. It is a really loopy course so at times you could see virtually the entire 10,000 people seemingly running in different directions. Nearer the start the eilte runners were making their way past us and the speed they were going was amazing. I’m not sure if I could run that fast in a sprint let alone for 13.1 miles. But to prove that it an event for all people, as I moved through the 12 mile marker off to our right streamed loads of people just moving through the 8 mile marker where I have been about 1/2 an hour earlier.
The vast majority of runners were there preparing for London. There was a vast array of charity t-shirts and you know that behind every t-shirt lies a story somewhere. So I’m glad I went. Glad I got my pacing right and set a new PB. Glad I ran with the crowd. And glad I got some reminders of why we are taking on this crazy challenge. Not so pleased with the blisters on each foot – got to get that sorted. Also pleased that the money is coming in on my justgiving site (www.justgiving.com/shaundowling) making the effort all the more worthwhile.
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