Brighton Half(?) Marathon (with a bonus 0.42 miles)??

After Bramley the week before, the conversation turned towards Bryony's Half Marathon in Brighton, which I didn't actually have an entry for. Turns out that the friend Bryony was due to run with, was unable to compete, so I jumped at the chance to take up the role as "personal pacemaker".  This looked like it would be a good chance to run a nice, easy, sub 1hr 50 min Half Marathon, before Paris Half two weeks later.

We arrived on the Saturday, to howling winds, driving rain and abandoned a walk along the seafront, as walking at 45 degrees was harder than it needed to be.  Some doubts crept in about how pleasant it might be to actually run in this weather, but thankfully after a good nights sleep and some dodgy hotel porridge for breakfast, we walked out to blue skies and a little bit of sun.  It was still pretty "baltic", but we set off at a good pace to warm ourselves up and I got my first chance to showcase my new Pink Place running vest......

The sun was out and the pace was good, ticking off the miles early on.  Some confusion set in when the mile markers, as between miles 4 and 5 our watches were about 0.5 miles ahead of the mile markers.  It continued like this and became quite frustrating, but we hoped that there would be a nice short mile at the end at least?  The course was relatively fast/flat and was pretty amazing to see the first runners whizzing past you, going the other way, as they had already been through the turn point.

 

  

Miles 7-9 were pretty uneventful as you made your way to the final turn point and the route home along the seafront promenade.  Coloured huts and mile markers whizzed by and we were driven on by the amazing support on the course.  When mile 12 passed by and we had 12.5 miles on our watch, we were a little concerned as Brighton Pier still seemed a long way away.  Our watches beeped at 13.1 miles and the Half Marathon "should" have been over, but sadly it was not.....what on earth was going on?  Mile 13 came by and we could finally see the finish line, crosseing over in 1hr 46 mins, slightly confused by the fact that we had actually run almost 13.5 miles on our watch?

I think the mixture of pain and confusion is clearly evident in the photos below (even the 1hr 45 min pacemaker is puzzled):

After receiving our medals and trying to work out what might have happened, we heard a few people query the distance, but didn't really know what more we could do?  I was wanting to take the 1hr 43 mins that my watch said I did for the Half Marathon distance, but knew the chip time would be 1hr 46 mins?  It turns out, that after a proper "steward's enquiry", we were right and the course organisers published the following statement:

"Race Organisers of the Brighton Half Marathon have acknowledged today (Monday 20th February) that due to human error the course was extended to a total distance of 13.42 miles."

Thankfully this meant that they adjusted all the times and I can now confirm that we are both the VERY proud owners of a 1hr 43 mins PB time for a Half Marathon. 

Next stop, Paris Half Marathon..........................

Bramley 10 Miles (NOT the 20)!

On a bitterly cold Sunday morning, we made the short drive over to Bramley, for a very popular local race - the Bramley 10/20 miler.  Yes, there was a 20 mile option, but after discovering that it is merely another lap of the 10 mile race, it didn't take much persuading for  Bryony and I to work out that 10 was a MUCH wiser option. 

As you can see, I did brave shorts, but that doesn't mean that my lower legs appreciated it.....you can still see snow on the ground!!  We "gave it legs" and made it round in a very respectable time of 1hr 19 mins (was aiming for a sub 1hr 20 target), so we were both delighted.  I think we were more relieved by the fact that we had chosen the "10 mile" option, as watching people go through the finish line, turn round and have to go back out again for another 10 miles, we were very appreciative to be done for the day.

One great perk of all this running is that we can eat anything and everything most of the time and it would have been rude to have walked past the bakery that we had to run past at the start AND at the end?!  So, after fuelling up with a bacon butty and cake, we could make our way home, satisfied with a good days work. 

Grim Night Terror - February 2012

Any event that uses such an image as an advert for their run, must be seeking some "unbalanced" individuals to take part in their inaugural event.  Thankfully, I fitted the bill perfectly.

A NIGHT OF TERROR AWAITS YOU…

"Not for the feint-hearted but definitely for those wanting a thrill, the GRIM: Night Terror is an 8 mile challenge held in the dark. The route will run over the Army's vehicle testing tracks so expect it to get interesting.

The terrain is varied: trails, rocky paths, a filthy bog, a sand dune, damp dark woods and some rather large waist high puddles so expect to get wet. You'll also meet some characters lurking in the shadows along the way. Run Scared!"

It had been freezing in the days building up to the race and randomly it decided to snow from about 6pm on the day of the event.  This meant that the "water features" were buried about 4 inches under thick ice and the organisers decided it was unwise to break the ice, so the course was amended slightly.  Can't believe I was glad that the course was actually frozen (I never thought I would say that)!!



As you can see from the pictures, it was a little cold, but we made it round the 6.8 miles in 58 mins, with no major dramas.....the ice cracking under feet as you crossed sections was interesting, but all survived and a good little training run!!

My chosen Charity - The Pink Place, Basingstoke.

My chosen charity is a local charity, called The Pink Place, Basingstoke.  They have been absolutely amazing in supporting my Mum and many other local women who have been dealing with the difficulties of Breast Cancer.

The Pink Place is a charity that aims to assist the well-being of those
who have experienced or are experiencing breast cancer in Basingstoke and Deane.

The charity has the support of the breast unit at the Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust.

To support the Charity and my efforts this year, please spare a minute to donate via Paypal HERE

(Please can you include  a message with your donation, i.e.  "This is a donation to support John Houston" and message me on Facebook/via e-mail: jwhuk@hotmail.com so that myself and The Pink Place can tally my fundraising)

The whole reason I'm doing all these crazy things....

My HERO - My Mum, who's battling Breast Cancer at the minute and nothing I put myself through in a race can come close to what she's going through with chemo/treatments etc. This is my inspiration and in December 2011, I ran my last race for CF Trust, as I decided to come up with more stupid ideas for 2012 to raise money for something that is even closer to my heart. This "Blog" is the tale of my journey to the start line of some crazy events in 2012......