2 hours 6mins.
I entered Perth’s Heaven and Hell half-marathon thinking that I might be signing myself up for a calamity. Was I ready for a 13.1 mile race and a particularly challenging one at that (see photo, right)? To be frank, I entered during a moment of boredom fueled by optimism. This was to be my biggest running challenge of 2010 so far. I wasn’t wrong.
In July last year I ran the Harris half-marathon. I was sure my legs had been subject to a fate similar to David Tennent as Doctor Who, only for me it was a case of degeneration. I hadn’t trained and I gained a fairly average time of 2 hours 13mins.
Fast-forward to April 2010, four months training and my time’s faster by 7mins. I’m happy enough but I reckon there’s a 1 hour 50-something in me. I was in much better shape by the end of this than Perth but I there was more in the tank, I should’ve been exhausted and I reckon I can do better. I finished 164th out of 250 starters (only 196 finished)
The best thing about entering races is the motivation it provides. I learn what my body’s capable of, what pace I should run for various distances and gives me my next target. My aim now is to run 10km in less than 50mins and run under 2 hours for a half-marathon.
I was rather proud of my 2 hour plus run and not too miffed to realise my time belonged to the bottom half of the results table. It was as I hovered around the cake table afterwards that I learned of the realm of running-hood still foreign to me, the people who were so fast round the course that it was quite reasonable for them to state their time in minutes only. One bloke finished in 77mins!!! He looked liked he’d showered and enjoyed a beer or two by the time I dragged my sweaty carcass through the finish line.
And to top it all off – it was a beautiful day! If I hadn’t been otherwise engaged I might have stopped to enjoy the stunning Perth view! (that’s me in white, pounding down the first steep incline).
