Home sweet home for #10

Time for half marathon number 10 and a trip home to Leicester! 4 years after first running the Leicester half marathon, I returned to complete it again as part of my challenge. I was greeted with miserable weather for the weekend but had some company in my good friend Elliot to run with!

It was raining all of Saturday and Sunday morning but eased off into drizzle during the race. We were also treated to cold and windy conditions along with the wet underfoot conditions! Despite all of this, Elliot and I paced ourselves round in times of 1:25 with Elliot pulling away to beat me by around 20 secs! Well done mate :)

There was a slight problem at the end in that the chips didn't work, luckily all the gun times have been sorted so I do have an official time!

10 down and 2 to go :) not far away from completing my challenge! 6 weeks to wait until Bath Hilly Half, part of the trionium series of races, a great selection of trail races!

See you in 6 weeks! James

#9 Hanner Marathon Caerdydd

So October 2013 came by very quickly and so did my 9th and 10th half marathons! Number 9 was in the beautiful city of Cardiff where I could go and visit my wonderful sister, Becky, for the weekend too :) had a great weekend seeing her brand new office and going to a gig!

It was great weather on the day and the sunglasses had to make an appearance! An estimated 15,000 runners were on the start line and showed how much the Cardiff half marathon has grown recently. The course had changed from 2011 when I first ran it and took out the dual carriageway section, an excellent decision! I wanted to push the pace and see what I could do, even though training hadn't been great with a busy work month and exams!

The first 9 miles I felt great and was on for around 1:25 but then my legs basically said no! The bay is possibly one of the most picturesque parts of a half marathon I've done (this is my 20th in total in 4 and a half years!) and was feeling really good at this point. Still pleased with my time of 1:27:08 though as the injury comeback is still continuing! 

Well done to everyone who ran the Cardiff with me too :) especially Anna for running a 3 min PB of 1:33, a cracking performance and Tash for completing her first half marathon!