This is the 3rd time I have taken part in the Meadows event, first time the 5k and this was my 2nd meadows half marathon. Each year it has grown bigger and bigger and considering it is organised by the university students is pretty impressive what they do, how much they raise for charity and how successful it has become.
Unfortunately the longer I have left this the harder it has become to sit down and write so I will keep it brief and try not to ramble.
This year there was a 5k, 10k, half marathon and a full marathon. If I recall correctly the events started at 10am and ended around 4pm. The half marathon started at 1pm. This was unusual for me as most running events I have participated in have started in the morning, the positive of this was not having to get up too early and plenty of time to fuel up. The negative was that we decided not to take Miss Bug with us as she usually sleeps around that time for a couple of hours.
Registration process was simple and painless and no problem getting my race pack on arrival at Teviot place, I was amused to have a finisher certificate in it before having run a single step. I also got a tshirt.
We were quite early so were able to hang around the hub and get a coffee. The weather was a mix of sunnny but cold, rain and very windy and I opted for a baseball cap...quickly abandonned when it blew off as I went out for the warm up.
Warm up by pure gym was Ok but I think given the weather most people just wanted to run.
The course was 7 laps round the meadows this has advantages and disadvantages. Great for spectators but a bit monotonous for the runner but great training event for the marathon and opportunity to practice pacing and nutrition. There was meant to be entertainment on the course but as I was so slow the entertainment had packed up when I was only half way complete. The volunteer marshalls were brilliant though, very enouraging and smiling , they must had stood for hours. The warer station was manned by local cubs I think, and as it was laps you would pass it several times, I didn't use it as they offered cups of water and still haven't mastered the technique of running and drinking from a cup, i chise to run with my camelback water pack.
The hardest part of the course for me was the cobbles at George square....they were brutal and I found it hard to run on them and painful.
This turned out to be my worst ever half marathon performance and I was 3rd last with a time of 2 hours 42 minutes, however this was under the course limit of 2.45 and for me a massive achievement in distance since the arrival of Bug. I knew there wouldn't be a pb on this occasion as I had only started seriously running again in January and for me it was a training run and stepping stone to the marathon.
At the finish line we got a medal...first bling this year, a coconut water and a goody bag. Disappointingly a lot of the leaflets/vouchers in the bag were out of date but for a student run and relatively cheap event they provided a decent bag.
And now for sone photos from the day :-)
Thank you as always to Mr Fudgey for the photos and for his support.
Thank you to Mum and Das S for looking after Bug
Thank you to Meadows Marathon for another really well organised and 'enjoyable' event.
Thank you all of you for your words of encouragement and support, especially Di and Lyndsey who helped med decide to sign up in the first place.
Will try and make sure next race report is more timely
Lots of love
Fudgey xxxx
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