Once again I must apologise because in the excitement of my recent raucous hen weekend, I totally forgot to post this race report contribution from Claire Shacklock. Thanks Claire. The actual runner’s take on races really help others decide if these events are worth entering.
Tracy Kennish-Ward, Marcomms and Media Liaison
Well, I have hated half marathons for the last 3 years, since March 2014 when I got my last PB. Really struggled with them, so deciding to do a half 3 days ago must of helped
, although I didn’t sleep much last night. At the start I got talking to Sarah Morris and her mum and realised there was a huge hill, about 8 miles and 2 bridges to go over! (I hate bridges and hills) Also I noticed that a few local runners had trail shoes on!! I had my week old brand new white trainers on!!!
There was no worry of what to wear after yesterday’s weather, so I did my usual trick of going to the toilet too late, so I started from the back (it was chipped). The route started on the Telford 10k route, which was narrow. It was quite hard to get round people but I tried my hardest. About 6 miles in the ground changed to more of a trail path but wasn’t too bad, until ‘the hill’ at 8! OMG, it was tough, then at miles 10-11 the mud was terrible!! You had to walk or slip over so my poor white trainers are no more :( the 2nd half of the race was mostly uphill (or so it felt), but I managed to pick my pace back up and bagged myself a PB ! It’s a great race. I would definitely recommend it, just don’t wear new trainers! For £18 you get a medal, t-shirt and goodie bag with lots of food and the route was lovely through small villages and countryside. Other BPJ’s who took part in the race were Matt Davis, Nick Hooper and Scott Collinson.
Claire Shacklock, Club Secretary and Race Director
Full race information and results can be found at the Ironbridge Half Marathon website organised by Telford Harriers.
Contact Tracy Kennish-Ward at: [email protected]
