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Jul 2023
8:02am, 3 Jul 2023
594 posts
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damo_HAC
I find the Blackpool course flat, but very windy, not great conditions for a fast time.
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Jul 2023
8:05am, 3 Jul 2023
595 posts
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damo_HAC
@fuzzyduck79 has there been a jump in the entry field too at Cambridge half, or just lots more at the front end?
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Jul 2023
11:41am, 3 Jul 2023
1,882 posts
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fuzzyduck79
Cambridge half finishers in recent years:
2023 - 11418
2022 - 9915
2021 - 9400
2020 - 11273
2019 - 8375
Take away the shoes and I think the explosion of sub 70 runners largely disappears, but not entirely.
Fast runners will gravitate to events where past results prove you can get a quick time, if more fast people seem to be showing up every year, you're more confident that you should be able to get in a decent pack.
I only recently saw the elevation profile for Edinburgh half - drops ~300 feet quite smoothly over first 5 miles and then pan flat to the finish. 3 miles along the coast in the middle, get a tailwind there and you're laughing.
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Jul 2023
11:51am, 3 Jul 2023
15,051 posts
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jda
Agree that Blackpool is hit and miss with the wind, but it's my PB course on a good day in Feb and I think it's quite close to larkim which may be a significant factor.
Lytham St Annes on 6 Aug is the next hm (Fylde Coast Runners). They seem to have several over the next few months.
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Jul 2023
12:19pm, 3 Jul 2023
415 posts
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AJLB
Fuzzy - I think the profile for the Edinburgh marathon must be the same, just with another 13 miles along the coast, still pan flat. I wouldn't want to count on a tailwind though, and if you were unlucky with a headwind it would be brutal - very exposed in parts.
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Jul 2023
12:28pm, 3 Jul 2023
1,883 posts
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fuzzyduck79
Yes, looks like a longer out and back for second half of Edinburgh marathon
Elevation drop not as large when I look at segments for these races, you drop more like 150 feet (probably wonky data on the activity I had seen)
So not massively different from London marathon elevation profile, ~100 feet drop by 3 miles and then pretty flat afterwards
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Jul 2023
12:39pm, 3 Jul 2023
1,884 posts
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fuzzyduck79
Scratch that actually, was the old course (pre 2018?) that had less drop at the start.
Not eligible for WR, and a bit wonky to even claim it as a PB I would say
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Jul 2023
1:18pm, 3 Jul 2023
21,424 posts
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larkim
Interesting debate to be had there - if a course isn't World Athletics record-eligible, should it count as a PB? Or should there be a separate threshold?
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Jul 2023
2:32pm, 3 Jul 2023
1,885 posts
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fuzzyduck79
Most people seem happy to take a PB as long as it is on power of 10, even if they wore shoes that broke the (EA) rules or the course was obviously short. Lots of people still think rules on stack heights only apply to elites.
Don't think there's much point putting a different threshold in, but I don't really view my 10k "PB" (Telford, ~2m/km drop) as my best 10k because the course is not legit. But I would imagine 99% of people who have their PB on that course don't care, because the result is on Po10
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Jul 2023
2:40pm, 3 Jul 2023
15,057 posts
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jda
People don't even necessarily know if a course is short. I've got a couple of suss results including my 5k PB and very close to 10k PB - I bet a number of people have the latter as it's a fairly big fast race, but the organisers refused to admit they'd put a cone in the wrong place when I pointed it out to them. Luckily for me I beat it shortly afterwards, but I've never got the 5k and never will now.
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RW sub3/3.15
Dec 2024