Chippenham Half-Marathon

Thanks Chippenham Harriers for a well organised and supported event I finished 26th in 83.50. Was hoping to be a bit faster, but the course was a little more undulating in the second half than I expected, or it just felt it in the strong headwind for the last 4m Typical that the headwind and the uphill drag came together. Not a big hill- just enough of an undulation in a strong wind! Thanks again, I'll be back next year without a doubt

Jason -  Well done on your performance, yeah mile 11 and 12 hurt see below. 

Chippenham went OKish today, us runners never happy.  Windy but not as bad as expected. Set off at a decent pace but paid for it later, miles 11 and 12 are steady inclines nothing too steep but it's still uphill. Finishing time 1:33:44  avg 7:05 which I would have settled for but at halfway I thought I was on for a better time. Splits as follows:

6:29, 6:57,6:46,6:55,6:57,7:10,7:15,7:03,7:11,7:15,7:32(ouch),7:52(double ouch),7:04,1:10(last bit).

Wore a heart rate monitor for the first time in a race and was an avg of 178, which I think shows I could n't have gone much quicker.

Thank you everybody for their kind comments. Everyone at Chippenham Harriers is pleased that we managed to put on an enjoyable race again this year.

If you'd like to leave a comment at the Runners World Event Rating forum so everybody can see what you thought of us it would be good. You can see what others thought and add your comments here http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/ratingsall.asp?en=59895&year=2011&ugn=7662&sp=&v=2

See you all again on Sunday 9th September 2012, entries will open next March so keep an eye on the website!!

Jason -  It's a day out for her is n't it.

Towner -  Unlucky fella, I think I passed you when you had stopped to massage your calf.

Well done guys. 

I looked out for you Barry but didn't spot you.  I was wearing a bright orange Wycombe HM shirt with race number 8.

It's funny you should say about runners not being happy.  I finished in 1:37:15 which is my fastest time of the year (9th HM) so should be but bit disappointed that I couldn't get nearer to my 1:34 PB as for the first 8 miles I was on course running roughly 7 minute mile pace.  I need to take a look at my garmin to see where I lost all the time but suspect it was miles 11 and 12 too as even with the marathon training my legs gave up on me.   

Still really enjoyed the day, great weather, great support/marshalling and the shirt Kevin was the best I've received this year.

Jason - Yep, the 9th September is a Sunday next year. 2012 is a leap year so we jump from the 11th to the 9th.

Runlozrun - Glad you liked the t-shirt!. Can't really claim the credit for the weather though..... somebody somewhere must like us!!

Loz - Still good running mate, I think we all struggled during the last few miles.

Kevin -   Any chance of reversing the route so we can run down those inclines at mile 11 and 12 rather than up.

Barry - I think that might be a good suggestion about reversing the route. Ok not exactly, you'd have to do something different at the start but I reckon it would make this race near perfect.

The wheels came off for me after half way and was 2 mins slower (1.28.xx) than 2 years ago, partly because of the wind but probably mainly because of lack of fitness. Too many weeks off in August methinks.

Olbury Power Station 10 miler next - now that IS a flat race.

Well done to all of you that took part on Sunday - it looked hard!

 I was taking photographs just before the 6 mile mark and am in the process of uploading them to the following address, where you can view them and purchase any that you like. 

www.photoboxgallery.com/chm2011 

The photographs are grouped by race number order - so far race numbers 0 - 250, 251 - 500 and 501 - 750 have been uploaded.  I should finish up-loading the remaining images tonight.  Please have a look and see if you can see yourself there.

Andy -   Thanks for the link, photos ordered.

Jason - Yes I am always here!! The number of people who did not turn up on the day was slightly more than in previous years but roughly what you would expect.Popular races that sell out early do tend to have a higher drop-out rate.

The actual % of people who did not turn up on the day was 26.15%.