Brass Monkey Half Marathon

Having missed the deadline for this years event once again, I was resigned to the fact of not running it again this year. I unexpectedly received a text with an offer of a number only last Tuesday. I had heard that non runners were not allowed to transfer numbers to other runners. To clarify this, I e-mailed the race secretary at York and they sent me instructions on the legal way to do it. So I then arranged for a special next day delivery of the entry form and transfer details to York and I was in the race. I wasn't planning to do the run so the training as been on and off and I can't really complain about my time because I've hardly done any quality training.

During the first few miles the pace was comfortable and I felt reasonably ok. It wasn't until the 10 mile mark that the legs 'gave up' . I reached 3 miles in 17-10, 6 miles in 34-40, 10 miles in 58-30, then the last 3 miles were a drag and I could only manage 6-20/mile. This is a real consequence of not doing the long runs and the over distance work. Early in the race I had my sights on another V45, Duncan Clark, who dropped off from the chasing group at five miles. The distance on him was closing, but started to open up again as my legs started to give way. Team mate and fellow Spen runner Kevin Ogden had a good run and finished in 1-15-10, which should help towards his spring marathon campaign.