Back to Main
Newcastle Herald Hill to Harbour Half MarathonDate:
Category:
Road Events
No matter how many times I have run this event, it always makes me smile. I'm so fortunate to have such a great home–ground event.
As can be typical, I got struck down with the dreaded man flu a couple weeks out from this event, which meant I missed the longest weeks of training. All good, though, I had a pretty strong base so it shouldn't effect me too much. Plus, I wasn't going for any records so it was basically just a fun event.
There was a typical turn out of a few hundred for the event, which was pretty good. I positioned myself in the middle of the pack to get away fairly quickly and not get stuck in the first few kilometres, as can happen.
I got away in a pretty good time and was able get a little room to run on my own. These first few kilometres felt pretty good. I was able to settle in to a reasonable 5:00 pace after the first out–and–back along the breakwall.
Approaching King Edward Park, it was time to suck in some big ones and press up the winding hill. It's always nice to reach the top and coast down Memorial Drive to the halfway turn around point at Empire Park. It's just never nice running back up Memorial Drive!
A quick time check at the Empire Park turn around showed I was making pretty good time and keeping a 5:00 pace. Feeling good I pressed back up Memorial Drive as fast as I could as the rest of the course is relatively flat.
On my way back down King Edward Park I started chatting with a lovely med student who was running her first half marathon. Coincidentally, she was planning to keep a 5:00 pace so we ended up pacing of each other and having a chat.
15kms in I started getting a little tired. The second out–and–back along the breakwall was tough but I knew there was only a few kilometres to go so I just sucked it up.
It was only a short few kilometres to go and we were home. A quick time check showed we needed to keep dead on a 5:00 pace to make the 1:45:00 goal. I had to laugh, I was actually pretty buggered for these last 2kms. I think this was just the man flu toll. Anyway, I was able to keep it together and cross the line with my new friend at a time just under an 1:45:00, which she was stoked with. There was a quick "high five" and a few congratulatory words and we were off to see our respective partners, her's of which she left behind so I'm not sure how he ended up going.
A fun event as always. Now it was time to focus on snagging a PR up the Hunter Valley for the Winery Running Festival!
Race Day Stats:
|