When
my request for an elite place in the Great Birmingham Run half-marathon was
accepted I felt really excited and privileged to be lining up alongside other
international, world class athletes at the very front of around 20,000 other
runners. I was looking forward to really
pushing myself and seeing how much (if at all!) my fitness had improved since
the Kenilworth Half-marathon six weeks before.
My
enthusiasm on the day, however, was at first rather dampened by the pouring
rain (and having to drag myself out of bed at 6.30am on a dark Sunday
morning)! I was soaked through before I’d
even got to the elite athletes’ area by the start, let alone done my warm up! Miraculously, though, it stopped raining
about 30 minutes before the start, and the sun even made an appearance.
I
lined up alongside the other elites and my tactical start-line positioning paid
off (behind Sonia Samuels and Andy Vernon) as I managed to make an appearance
on the Channel 5 TV coverage! The claxon
sounded and we were off, heading along the dual carriageway towards Moor Street
Station and Selfridges. I couldn’t help
thinking about all the times I’ve been Christmas shopping in Birmingham when
this road is full of buses and cars – it was rather surreal to be running right
down the middle of it!
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| Getting ready to start (left); with Almensch Belete and eventual race winner Elizeba Cherono (right) |
The
route took us out to the south of the city, to Bourneville (I didn’t spot
Cadbury’s World, which was probably a good thing), before heading back again, through
Edgbaston Cricket Ground and round Cannon Hill Park, before finishing on Broad
Street by Centenary Square. There was a notorious
hill which was brutal, lasting for over a mile from just before the 11-mile
point and just seeming to go on for ever and ever. But this wasn’t the only hill - there were numerous
others, especially just after the start, at about 3.5 miles and around the 5
mile point. In fact, the whole of the
first half seemed to be mostly uphill!
 |
| Deep in concentration?! |
Despite
my pre-race enthusiasm to really push myself, I found it hard going and was
having constant battles in my head, trying to push out the negative thoughts
with positive ones. My legs were feeling
really heavy, but I kept trying to convince myself I was feeling light and
strong – it didn’t work! My lowest point
was when Nell McAndrew passed me somewhere between 7 and 8 miles! I managed to stay with her round Edgbaston
Cricket Ground and Cannon Hill Park, but she pulled away on ‘the’ hill and I
couldn’t get back to her. She eventually
finished exactly 30 seconds in front of me - I’m not sure I’ll live that down! I did manage to make a second TV appearance
though, as I can be spotted in the background while Nell is doing her post-race
interview!
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| Sprint finish with my Leamington C&AC club mate (he won!) |
I
can’t be too disappointed with my run, especially considering my current state
of fitness post-injury. I was 22nd
in the women’s race, over 5 minutes faster than I ran at Kenilworth (1:27:59),
but most satisfying was that I won my age category! It was great to be part of a big-race atmosphere
again, with runners of all ages, sizes and abilities pounding the streets for
their own personal goals and achievements.
That’s the beauty of running.
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| Finisher's medal, personalised number and wristband telling me I'm an elite athlete - apparently! |
