Cambridge Half Marathon, 5 Mar 2023

I signed up to this race back in October with the anticipation that it would be a relatively flat, and therefore, fast course to aim for a PB. My goal was to run sub 1 h 25 min.

Taper week had not gone so well - I was unwell the majority of the week with flu like symptoms and feeling very fatigued. Marathon training had been going well, but that was more in terms of building distance than improving speed. I really wasn’t sure how the race would go. All I could do was give it my best shot, and if I didn’t PB, then at least I would have gotten a good training run out of the event.

Race morning was cold! I kept wrapped up warm in lots of layers for as long as possible before we were beckoned over to the start pen. There were almost 15,000 participants racing that day and I was very lucky, and pleased, to bump into a couple of friends from the triathlon club - Kieran and Justin, and Justin’s friend, Thom. It turned out that they were planning to run together, and also aiming for a similar time to me. We decided that running as a pack would be a lot of fun, so we were set on running as a group to motivate each other around the course, and hopefully all PB!

The first half of the race was comfy running. The first few kilometres were spent weaving in and out of people to achieve a bit more space around us, and then we were able to settle into a good pace. We had set off faster than the target pace (~4 min/km), but it felt about right, and also bagged us some time. I definitely benefitted from running with my friends as we could pull each other along whenever an individual was beginning to fade. The hardest section for me was the long stretch out and back into town - roughly between 13 km and 17 km. It was tough holding the pace and continuing to push all the way to the end, but the crowds of supporters cheering us on from the side-lines when we were back in town really helped motivate me. The course was full of twists and turns around the town centre, and it was hard at the end when then finish line was in sight, but we still had over a kilometre left to run. On the home straight, I gave it my all, and ended the race with a sprint finish. I managed to dip under 1 h 24 min, with a chip time of 1:23:55! A 2 minute PB!

I had a fantastic run and really enjoyable race with my friends. I could not have hoped for a better time - especially as I was not feeling great in the lead up to the event. The race felt like it whizzed by! My running focus is now on the next big race: London Marathon!

Jenny Carter