Lake Vyrnwy Half Marathon

to be fair there was nowhere for the late joiners to go.  They couldnt get through the pack from the front.  Overall though its a v good race, i enjoyed the downhill finish. Mentally it helps knowing its there!

andy - i think i might have passed you late on in the race (i was in the white stoke ac vest that looks like a 118188 one), i started very conservatively and recorded 6mm first mile, and 5.5x for the next 2 but got going towards the middle and finished in 74.15.  I was way 40 secs off a sub 75 at 5m but managed to claw it back largely thanks to the final mile.

x post Dr Dan. just reading your message makes me think, if people are willing to train for a race, pay for a race and travel for a race then why o why are they also willing to screw it up in the last few seconds prior to the race by starting to far forward only to get pushed over because of not wanting to "lose time" i seen this a few times now where people get injured in the crush and its totally needless, DONT DO IT.

dean richardson 7 wrote (see)

to be fair there was nowhere for the late joiners to go.  They couldnt get through the pack from the front.  Overall though its a v good race, i enjoyed the downhill finish. Mentally it helps knowing its there!

andy - i think i might have passed you late on in the race (i was in the white stoke ac vest that looks like a 118188 one), i started very conservatively and recorded 6mm first mile, and 5.5x for the next 2 but got going towards the middle and finished in 74.15.  I was way 40 secs off a sub 75 at 5m but managed to claw it back largely thanks to the final mile.

Dean i dont know if you noticed but there were some late arrivers who were going down the gap between the runners and the fence on the grass verge to avoid this problem. i`m refering to the ones who actually stand practically on the start line tape. there was one guy who no dissrespect but blatantly shouldn`t really of been there who i thought was a prime candidate for injury, i know its a bad way of thinking but i`ve seen it happen on more than one occasion.

i think i find it fustrating because to be honest if a runner decides there going to start in the wrong place theres really nothing the race organisers can do about it which is a shame really,

 i do remember you passing me at about 9miles actually, i'd caught up to a guy in a yellow vest and thought the footsteps were him trying to hang on so i really pushed as best i could to drag us both along, although at that point i was really struggling to maintain pace because of starting to quick i guess. i enjoyed the race though it was good. especially with the downhill last mile. sounds like you ran a stormer of a race, well done on the pacing, i think i`ll learn from what you just said about taking the first few miles at a fairly steady pace.

dean richardson 7 wrote (see)

to be fair there was nowhere for the late joiners to go.  They couldnt get through the pack from the front. 

Agree - it's inevitable if the entry to the start is from the front ... that needs to be fixed. Otherwise a good race.

Andy - it reminds me of my last 5k race where an older chap who ended running a 22min race started on the front line.  This was a big mistake and was effectively pushed off the course by irrate people also this was the northern champs where a sub 16min wouldnt get you in the top 20 so people werent happy with his choice and made him aware.

regards yesterday the start slower tactic definately helped me not go off too fast and was down in 40-50th position by the first mile. I normally hare off and try and hold on!  Although you missed the 75, did you PB?  The course was harder than i was told.

I think that could be a very quick course ... there was a lot of slight down hill in the second half. If I was doing it again and gunning for a fast one, I'd run a sensible 1st mile but still run a slightly conservative race until 6-7 miles ... and then open it up in the second half.

in the results 80% or so of the top 100 finishers yesterday got a PB or SB so it must be a fast course. But I never felt like i was running downhill until the last 2ks which were very welcome! The 12 miles of so before that felt like it was flat or gradual incline.    However my garmin disagrees and that i was actually running up and down for most of the race, so it must have been a mental thing!

Its a great race and im not suprised its popular

I found the course very quick and PBd by a silly amount- but always knew that was on the cards cos my PB is a year past its sell-by date The only problems I had was running the first uphill mile a bit too fast which caught up with me around 11m, and having to negotiate my way round a few people in the wrong place at the beginning- apologies to anyone I pushed.

I really think, and conversations |I had yesterday seem to bear this out, that most people would be only too happy to pay an extra quid or few to cover the cost of chip timing.

Saying that, loved the race and will definitely be back next year

Andy - how would compare the courses at helsby to vyrnwy?  I was supposed to run helsby last yr but was sick

Very jealous of you lot. Well done.It is a shame about the start; I reckon it cost me a PB last year. Concur about chip timing which may help but, whatever way you look at it, the start is very narrow. How do other local races compare for speed - Wrexham and 4 Villages for eg? (I`m benched for a bit )

cheers andy, i have heard good things about helsby as i have Vyrnwy. i probably will do it to keep me honest over xmas.

I suppose if it takes 10 secs to get over the line you are in debt already before hitting the start. and that could cost on a pb,  I liked the scale of the event and am glad they dont go too corporate.  My only minor gripe was getting people in the correct pens....but us runners should self police that by doing the right thing

Dean- one thing to take note of is that the helsby half fills up real quick so its best to check every few days really so you dont get caught out.

i agree with you on the whole corporate thing to be honest, i`ve done liverpool and chester which i really enjoyed but you tend to get a "goody bag" full of leaflets which you dont need basically. us runners should self police though to make things go alot smoother.

another one to think about is the ellesmere half which has a low key feel to it, very chilled out ya know.

Andy- ta. As for pace.... I ran the uphill first mile 11 seconds faster than my target average pace- cost me.... muppet!

It was my fourth time in four years at Vyrnwy and although in previous years the start has been busy, this was the first time that I have noticed people blatantly take the Mickey in terms of the starting zones. There was ample opportunity for people to get in the correct place, I was watching this very carefully (I'm tall enough to see). An issue that I will be getting in touch with Janet about was that the start zone markers were not in their usual place up on the fence the right and some people did appear to be looking in vain for them but being unobtrusive poles about 5 feet high on the left there was absolutely no chance of seeing them once the area started to fill up.

The other issue that needs addressing is a loud klaxon or similar to indicate the race has started.

Once we did get going I must have had to dodge 200 plus people who were never (judging by their pace and girth) going to break 2:15, I'm not concerned about this in terms of my time but rather the danger involved and sure enough one man hit the floor very hard trying to get around a mobile chicane and got up bleeding profusely from the head.

Make no mistake, I think Lake Vyrnwy is the best half marathon I've experienced and I'd be amazed if there was a road race of its equal anywhere but selfish, thoughtless people did not do the race credit this year.

jason d wrote (see)

Andy- ta. As for pace.... I ran the uphill first mile 11 seconds faster than my target average pace- cost me.... muppet!

i made that same mistake to, thought i was clever at the time getting it out the way with nothing to make up afterwards but clearly as many found out it doesn`t really work out like that. never mind eh.......atleast we know for next time eh.