Brighton Half Marathon Completed!!!

A fantastic morning. I was feeling a little dubious about my potential today, given the ridiculous quantity of vodka I consumed yesterday. My stomach was not happy and my legs were very shaky. Beautiful bright sunshine and blue skies promised much, although it was bitterly cold at 9.15 when I arrived in the start area and when I had to remove my warm gear and head to the start I thought I'd die of hypothermia.

But it all went very well once we finally got started. I crossed the start line with 6 minute 50 already showing on the clock - there were about 5000 people running - and started my timer. For the first two or three miles it was actually quite difficult to run at my preferred pace, as we were really packed together through the narrow streets. Once we got onto the seafront, though, I started to stretch my legs. I was 2 minutes behind where I wanted to be at the 4 mile point, but had cut that to 1 minute by the end of the 7th mile. And my finish time (based on my time spent racing, not the official clock) was quite simply shocking in a brilliant way. Bearing in mind my target time was 2 hours and I thought 1 hour 57 might be doable, I'm ecstatic. Especially as, lovely though the course is in general, there was series of utterly bastard hills, both up and down, from 9 miles or so to the end. I even managed a proper push for the final mile.

Sunday 17 February. Half Marathon Race. Time taken 1 hour 51 minutes-ish. I stupidly forgot to press 'stop' on my timer when I crossed the line, but the official clock said 1 hour 57 minutes something, so based on when I crossed the start line this is as close as I can guesstimate.