I got my arse into gear a bit and entered the GIAAC Guernsey Father's Day Half Marathon. This is probably the biggest local running event after the Guernsey Marathon and this year saw 450 entrants. This maybe because the course changed last year and now ends in St Peter Port. As it also coincides with a seafront closure in town and several athletics events taking place, it makes for good crowds and a good atmosphere at the finish - much better than previously when it finished in an industrial estate!
I entered on the day and didn't expect too much of myself. My PB for this course is 1:36 and I knew there was no way I would be beating this three weeks after the Grand Union Canal Race. Also I was not going to run this with any gels, energy drinks and such - just relying on the water provided on the course every couple of miles or so. Just a nice Sunday run but with 450 others for a change and no early start!
Getting there in good time to register meant that I had plenty of time to catch up with others I know at the start. The weather was light rain but was clearing rapidly and the breeze would be from behind for the majority of the course so pretty good conditions. Just before the start I jogged up to my car to drop off my Gore-Tex jacket as the rain had now stopped completely.
I ran back down to the start van to listen to Ingy (Paul Ingrouille - Race Director) give his pre-race briefing then joined the others to walk up to the start line. This race has entrants from a wide range of experience and ability, ranging from my butcher, Wayne, who had not run more than 10 miles before, to Ben Livesey from the RAF who went on to win in 1:06:47 - 10 minutes before the second place runner!
Positioning myself nearer the back than the front, I started and began a "systems check" to see what pace I could get away with. The runners around me were doing about 8m/mi so I stuck with that pace for the first mile. This seemed relatively easy, I had a few twinges from my left hamstring and knee. This had been with me throughout my GUCR training and had prevented me from doing much speed or hill work. However, this was easily to ignore and I picked up the pace a bit until I was running 7:30-50 which seemed comfortable enough - let's see how far this will last!
The course is pretty much flat and follows the coast road up the west coast before turning east then south to the finish. By now I was glad I had left my jacket behind as the sun was coming out and it was getting a little warm - good for me a I like a bit of sunshine when running. The roads are not closed for the event which makes for some interesting observation of the driving skills (or lack of them) of some drivers. The maximum speed limit in Guernsey is 35mph and those cars that didn't decide to stay off the coast road weren't moving much faster than the runners. I think it would be helpful though if the police were on hand to ask it it's really a good idea to try and overtake on a corner!
I managed to keep up the pace until only 3 miles left to go when I started to slip back to an ultra-shuffle at times and had to push to keep a reasonable pace up. Passing the old finish area is psychologically difficult as it feels as if you should be finishing but still have 2 miles to go - also you can see St Peter Port across Belle Greve bay and it always looks farther. I told myself that I wasn't feeling anything like as tired as a round-island training run where I would have done about 35 miles with more than 3 to go to get home!
Approaching the finish line, I attempted a bit of a sprint and finished in 1:43:41 - not a PB but better than expected. (results PDF here)
I swear my legs felt worse after this than after the GUCR!
This has got me thinking maybe I can beat my PB at the Jersey Marathon in October. I need something to get me out of bed and go running. I won't be doing the Guernsey Marathon but that's the subject of a post on another day!
