Run > Race

Marlow Half. Perfect running weather, cold, but sunny throughout, in fact the sun at one point was right in the eyes and made me wish I had sunglasses on! The course starts with a gradual incline and I realised that I was slipping into 10 minute mile territory. Then there were two major hills, one at 8 miles and one at about 10 miles and I soon realised there was no hope of achieving the sub 2 hour dream, although I didn't miss it by much. The last 2 miles are a slow descent and I powered my way to the finish, really enjoying that feeling of overtaking as other runners seemed to flag. The course undulates through beautiful countryside and autumnal leaves. Some of the steep descents required careful negotiation as you felt like it could end in tears if you slipped on leaves. Just a t-shirt at the end but plenty of drinks on offer. All in all, would love to do this again as its only a 40 minute drive down the M40 and nice to have a smaller field of runners. Oh, and the banger at the start of the race was impressive! The party in Wimbledon the night before probably had an impact given 3 cans of beer, curry and sleep deprivation from getting home at 2am and not being able to sleep until after 3am...oh well!