Blackpool Half Marathon

26th April 2015: 02:03:00 (Chip Time)

Official Results (Gun Time)

This might have been, but ended up not being, the April leg of the Half Marathon a Month Challenge 2015 (at least for me). The reason for this was that entries had closed for the Monikie Half M in April before Chris and I had a chance to register, and this seemed like a reasonable alternative as it's not that long a drive from Glasgow to Blackpool.

However, Chris noticed that there was still a waiting list in play for Monikie, and he was keeping close tabs on it. Sure enough, additional places became available and we both ran Monikie for out April Half M. It was a great event and day out, which will be covered in the Half Marathon a Month Challenge post for Q2, so 'no spoilers'!

It's fair to say that weather in the latter part of April this year has been pretty horrendous. Both cold and wet. Sure enough this was also the forecast for the day of the Blackpool Half M, which is not so bad if you're running (at least for me!), but wouldn't be so good for two of my 'support team', Antonia and Scarlett, as they were hoping to make the most of the trip by having a wee visit to the Pleasure Beach. On the day though, by a tremendous stroke of good fortune, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Coupled with the fact that it wasn't that warm either, it meant that conditions were favourable for everyone's activities. 

Like many events the Blackpool Half M combined a 10k, a half marathon and a full marathon. The latter two started at the same time and the marathon runners basically had to do two 'laps' of the half marathon course, poor sods. 

On the tram on the way up to the start I got chatting to two guys who had separately, but spookily, both travelled up from Buckinghamshire for the event, and it took them the same time to get to Blackpool as it did us from Glasgow. 

One of the guys, called Giles, was running the half marathon and to be honest he looked a wee bit as if he had been on the bevvy the night before, and was just planning on running it off. When I searched for his result after the event I discovered that he came 25th overall and 4th in the 40s age category, with a time of 01:29:29 !! 

The other guy, Troy, was running the marathon, but 'only' as part of his training for the Lanazarote Iron Man event the following month. He said he was a plodder and usually got round in about 5 hours, but I checked his result too, and no doubt he would have been delighted with his 04:25:13 !

The route itself was basically 5k South of the start, and back, then 5k North of the start, and back, with an extra 1.1k chucked in somewhere. The bi-directional nature of the route meant that it was possible for both tail winds and head winds to play a part and, despite the clear skies, there was a constant 20mph 'breeze' throughout the event. As is always the case you never get back with the tail wind what you lose due to the head wind, and the latter was present throughout the entire middle 10k of the race. 

What was a lovely surprise at the 5k and 7k points in the race was to see my support team at the roadside to cheer me on before they went to their roller coasters. By the 7k mark the aforementioned head wind was starting to do its damage though, and I wonder if they noticed I was running 19 seconds a kilometre slower than I was at 5k?!

There were some great views during the run, especially as it was such a bright day. I took this wee snap about 14k in....

Yes, I know everyone in front of me looks as if they're out for a wee stroll, but I suppose for most amateur runners a half marathon is actually just that. A longish, extra brisk stroll.

At around the 16k we dropped quickly from street level down to the esplanade, and we had the wind at our backs again, thank goodness. I really enjoyed that part of the run, even though it was getting a wee bit tiring at that point. The organisers had one more surprise for us though. About 800 metres to go we were still down on esplanade, but the finish line was back up nearer street level! They chucked in this nice , very steep incline to finish things off. Just what you need after running over 20k. 

My finish time was exactly on the 2 hour 3 minute mark. This seems to be becoming my 'par score' for a half marathon, so I'll need to find something extra this year to get anywhere near my current PB, never mind my target PB. 

After I picked up my t-shirt and medal, and had the mandatory banana, I jumped the tram back to meet the troops near the roller coasters. The tram stop was actually on the running route, and the marathon was still ongoing. As I alighted the tram who did I see but Troy! He was about 20 miles into his marathon and was going along nicely.

Overall it ended up being a great trip to Blackpool, and I will definitely consider running it again.