Oxford Half Marathon, 17 Oct 2021

The week leading up to Oxford Half Marathon I was incredibly nervous. I was hoping to get a race PB and sub 90 minutes. I was looking forward to the relatively flat and speedy course to achieve my goal, but I had felt a bit under the weather and tired in the week leading up to the race so I was mostly relying on my solid foundation of fitness and training to run a good time.

My friend Jonny had mentioned that he was aiming for a similar half time and he agreed to help pace the run with me so that I could reach my goal. The first couple of kilometres was spent running in and out of people, trying to find some room away from the crowds to settle into a good pace. This meant we were slightly ahead of our target pace, but I was happy to keep ahead since I was feeling good. And we kept this up. Kilometre after kilometre I felt pretty strong and we were averaging slightly quicker than the 4:15 pace. The crowds were fantastic at cheering us on and I was running with a smile on my face! 

The middle section of the course was a bit of a drag; up and down a main road leading out and back into town. Although there were fewer spectators along this section of the run, we were able to see the huge crowds of runners in the opposite direction and the vast number of people running gave the event a great atmosphere. Back into town and the course began to get more twisty. As expected, at the 17 km mark it started to hurt and I was finding myself digging deeper to really give the final kilometres a final push. Jonny was also great at keeping me going.

As I ran around the iconic Radcliffe Camera I was smiling because I felt confident that I was in a good position and nearly at the end. The home straight and last 200 m were tough, but with a sprint finish across the line I finished in 1 h 28 min. A 3 minute PB, and overall positioning 18th woman and 4th in my age group.

I was happy and really enjoyed the event. The crowds gave it a good atmosphere and the run felt well-paced - not overly painful. Running with someone certainly made it a lot easier! A post-race Sunday pub lunch was certainly a highlight of the day!

Maybe in the Spring I’ll have another go at smashing my new half PB…

Jenny Carter