Half Marathon a Month Challenge - February 2016 #26

Strathaven Striders 'Run With The Wind' Half Marathon - 21st February 2016

Our 26th consecutive monthly half marathon took place in and around the town of Strathaven in South Lanarkshire, organised by the well established and well known running club, the Strathaven Striders. 

The thing is, this was the second year of this event, but we hadn't seen it on the half marathon schedule when we were looking for a February event in 2015. No matter. Last year we ended up doing a home cooked half marathon in Cumbrae, which was an excellent day out.

The reason for the event's title of 'Run With The Wind' Half Marathon was two* fold.

1. The highest point of the ascent in the first half of the run took us up to Whitelee Windfarm

2. It was a very windy event

*Some runners may also have been running with personal 'wind' issues on the day, but this would have been purely coincidental.

Regarding the weather conditions, the organisers were very clear in the lead up to the event that "Gloves,hats, two layers and longs are highly recommended". I'm sure they also said that they would check if folk were suitably dressed before allowing them to run, but as with most events we've done, very little checking of anything is ever done on the day! 

I heat up very quickly on a run, even in bitterly cold weather, so I took half of the advice and wore a hat and some gloves (as well as the traditional bin bag) to the start line. Even then I only needed the gloves for about a mile. Chris is the opposite. He feels the cold (and correspondingly runs well in hot conditions, unlike me). Chris therefore ran the race in an outfit he could have climbed Everest in! 

This was also my first half marathon back on the road to recovery from my knee injury. I had been able to do some non impact cardio (but no running) along with my quads and hams strength work, so if I could come close to a finishing time of around 2hrs 15mins, I would be delighted in the circumstances.

Despite the fact that the first half of the route involved a climb up to the wind farm, the section immediately after the start was downhill. It wasn't long though until we were on the ascent. Yes, the weather was windy, wet, and cold as you would expect from South Lanarkshire in February, but I honestly didn't feel that it was any more of an ordeal than most other events. There were even times during the run when I felt really good about the world, despite the pain still remaining from the injury. 

What's more, I did complete the race around about my target time, so I was extremely chuffed with that. 

Clare and Chris (who had already finished of course!) were there as I crossed the finish line, and as we have family who live in Strathaven we went to visit them!

I have to say a sincere thanks to The Smiths for looking after us following the race, and feeding us hot coffee and hot rolls. 

Given the fact that there are not a lot of February events nearby, there is a very good chance we will be back in Strathaven in 2017. (Although there is quite an interesting mixed terrain event up in Forfar, I believe)

Results:

Chris - 02:03:42

Frank - 02:15:37