The Cheshire Half Marathon

The Cheshire HM at Capesthorne Hall

I knew that as soon as I arrived back into Australia I would go directly into 2 weeks of Hotel Quarantine (Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200) where I would effectively be forced to sit on my backside for the whole time, so I decided to spend my last day of "freedom" being a bit more active. There were a few half marathons occurring on that day, and so I entered the one closest to my friend Mark's house for ease of participation. No matter how "minor" a run is, I always get nervous beforehand - and this was no exception......to the extent that I actually thought we would be starting in the opposite direction to the way the route went :-) 

Hiding the pre-race nerves :-)

Due to Covid spacing we had to line up in expected time groups 1 person to a cone that had been spaced out on the ground. I saw a few ladies go when they called for 1:20 runners, and another couple at the 1:25 mark, but when they asked for those aiming for sub 1:30 it did seem to be mainly men stepping up with me. 

Covid-spacing at the start

As we were to be chiptimed, the operated a rolling start but as soon as people crossed the line it was more of a free for all. A downhill start makes those that sprint off run even faster so people were both running away from me and flying past me!

We started heading straight for Capesthorne Hall

Surprisingly, for a "road race", after about 500m of rough broken road including a bridge crossing, we were suddenly "off road" and cutting across an open field on a "path" towards a tarmac road. Luckily it wasn't wet, as it would have been a bit more treacherous in such conditions. Despite everyone going faster than me, I thought I'd covered the first mile too quickly due to the downhill nature of it....but tried to file that away in my head, as we would run this stretch on the way back (ie a nice uphill finish).

On the country roads.....and both feet off the ground!!!

I managed to settle into a rhythm before too long, and passed a few ladies along the way. Unfortunately, there were no men running exactly my pace so I would either run alone, or haul someone in and pass them, but that is pretty standard for me, as I often feel hemmed in if running in a group. It wasn't a hilly course by any stretch of the imagination, but the country roads did undulate as we passed through a couple of small villages. There was a tiny out and back stretch which is always kind of nice as you can see who is just ahead and behind you without you having to turn and take a look.

Just to explain the route a little

Soon after this, there was a stretch of main road to run along, but luckily there were marshals at the points where we joined and left it, and we were also "taped off" to one side of the road so as to avoid the traffic. This worked well, but as I was so focussed on the cones, the tape, the marshals and the cars at this point (not to mention the fact that I was wondering how far I would get before I totally blew up), I missed the main "tourist attraction" of the run. Mark couldn't believe it when he asked me what I thought of Jodrell Bank and I had to confess to not having even noticed it.....he was so amazed that he drove us past it on the way home just to show me how obvious it is - oops!!!

Joddrell Bank - easy to miss!!!

Not long after the 8 mile mark, we hit the road we'd originally run out along, but instead of turning left onto it and running for home, we had to go back along it to the right and then cut through to join the original course again, only this time running the opposite direction to the way we'd come (I'm not sure that I'm describing that in the best way, but it made sense at the time). By this time, I knew that I was finally on the "home run" and though I caught another couple of guys, I was feeling worse and worse within myself. The last mile marker just didn't seem to appear at all, and by the time I finally got to it, I had no ability to push anymore as I just felt exhausted and nauseated. It didn't matter how much I'd berate myself later, I couldn't stop myself slowing to a walk for a short section, watching the man I'd been just behind run away round the next few bends.

Running across the bridge to the finish climb

The pity party didn't last too long and I got myself going again before I turned off the road onto the field crossing (and so I think I escaped anyone having seen my walk of shame....but I knew it!!) and from there I just had to cross the bridge and run up the rough road past Capesthorn Hall to the finish. As it turned out, I was the second lady home (not that there were any prizes except for a free entry into their next event......which was not exactly relevant to me being as I was leaving to fly back to Oz the next day) but it reassure me that I wasn't quite as slow and old as I felt as I was within a couple of seconds of my "Bay to Bay" half marathon time, despite the last mile hiccup!!

Yeay - I made it!!!

Still, at least it gave me an excuse for being knackered when I went bouldering with Mark later.......