A Different Perspective : Swanage Half Marathon

Can you believe it? We left in plenty of time this early Saturday morning, but with the sun shining for the first day in as long as I can remember plenty of other people were on the road early as well – what’s worse, they were obviously in a rush because we got stuck in the traffic of two accidents. This meant what should have been an hour and half’s drive took us nearly three, which in turn meant I was 30 minutes late for the race.

I pleaded with the organisers, who were a little worried about letting me head off in case I got lost – “the marshals on the early points will have packed up,” they said, but where happy for me to still join in, “Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out” I replied and ran off pleased that I wasn’t disqualified for my lateness.

As I passed along the sea front, which was packed with sun bathers and shoppers, a few of them laughed and shouted out, “you’re a bit late.” I smiled and waved as I replied “Don’t worry, I’m going to catch them up!”

After being so early for all my other races this year - to the point that I’m normally helping the organisers set up tents and with signage - I’ve never done this before – been late for a race. It gives you a strange perspective when you head off and there is no one in front of you – I guess this is the perspective the elite runners get. It is likely to be some time before I get this perspective again! I wasn’t too worried about having to find my way but I should imagine if you are an elite runner it must be pretty nerve racking, knowing you’ve got all those people following you and you’re leading the way. I remember being a spectator at the Great South Run one year and the course was inappropriately marshalled at one point and the elite runner went off course – it was a disaster.

The first mile or so was pretty straight forward, but heading into mile two I missed the marker and came to a cross roads – hmm, which way I thought? Fortunately for me the good weather had brought people into their gardens and there was an older group all being served tea on the front lawn of their retirement home. “Which way I shouted?” Most of them just smiled and waved back but one of them pointed left – so off I headed. Similarly, throughout the first few miles several kind people cheered and shouted directions to keep me on course

As I climbed to the top of the first hill the course evened out and I picked up the pace. I had to keep reminding myself that I couldn’t push myself too hard – I’ve got a 30-miler first thing in the morning and I know it is going to be tough. But I didn’t want to come in last – I know the guys back in the office would see my positioning if I did and never let me live it down!

The first five miles were quite tough because I didn’t come across any water stations. Now this could be because I was late and they’d already packed up or it could be because there just weren’t any – whatever, by the time I reached the first water station I was gasping. I must just say - the race organisers excelled themselves with the number of water stations from the 5 mile mark through to the finish.

Re-hydrated and with the course having evened out, I managed to pick up my pace a little and it wasn’t long until I caught up with some of the other runners. It was a lovely experience, I think it gave people a real boost to know that some people could still be so far behind them – I never mentioned I’d been late to start and they were more than happy to chat as we meandered through the now beautiful countryside.

It’s worth mentioning that this is one of the few road races I’ve done to date where the roads haven’t been closed off. It is quite an experience running on narrow country lanes and having to navigate around the traffic! It actually worked to my advantage though because you were able to run alongside someone and have a chat, then have to go back to single file when a car came along. For me, it meant I was able to overtake the person I’d been running with, without feeling too guilty. It also meant it was a really social run as I got to met lots of different runners.

One person to mention here is a lady called Pat. Pat and I ran together for a few a while and she told me that she had run more than 320 marathons. She didn’t even count events like today because they weren’t full marathons! She was really down to earth and a real inspiration.

The great news is I didn’t finish last, which I was really pleased with. All in all, an enjoyable run and a great day.