Sheffield Half Marathon 27.5.12

The weather was forecast to be hot and it didn’t disappoint. We were thankful that we would be away by 9am and back before the real heat of the day kicked it.

Thousands of runners gathered in anticipation on the track inside Don Valley Stadium fully fuelled and hydrated for the task ahead. Shortly after 9am we were off and making our way towards the city centre and onto the steady uphill climb of Ecclesall Road. The streets were lined with hundreds of supporters who cheered us on as we ran by.

I was eager to get a good start and felt good up until the steady climb up Ecclesall road. As I turned at Hunters Bar I could feel the heat as it began to bounce up from the road. I pushed hard back towards the town centre but found it hard to maintain my pace. As Don Valley Stadium appeared I still had a mile to go. I kept my head down and made a final push towards the finish and ended up sprinting down the home straight.

In reflection, after a fairly hilly course, on a hot day and without any specific training. I am happy with my recorded time of 1:22.54.

I’m looking forward now to start back training 5/6 days a week and dropping my weight in order that I can reach new goals that I am setting myself over the next 18 months.