Tonbridge Half Marathon sponsored by Porsche

Hi Fraser

I'm very local and have sussed out the route for Ton - no where near as hilly as Dartford, I agree that it is undulating rather than hilly with a couple of little spikes in it - should be a good one! 

 Brighton half is very flat save for the gradual but fairly long incline towards the marina - but its early on and what goes up must come down, so coasting back to the pier recharges the legs.  The downside is the weather - last year it was attrocious which made it quite a challenge, this year perfect and loads of people got pbs.  Bit of a gamble as in Feb.  That said - Brighton doesn't have a lot of character IMHO - not like Bewl 15 which is fantastic.  Was slower at Bewl but much preferred the whole experience, despite the challenging hills in the last third! 

 Paddock Wood is supposed to be ideal for pbs.......am definately going to have a go next year.

Cooks wrote (see)

Hi Fraser

I'm very local and have sussed out the route for Ton - no where near as hilly as Dartford, I agree that it is undulating rather than hilly with a couple of little spikes in it - should be a good one! 

 Brighton half is very flat save for the gradual but fairly long incline towards the marina - but its early on and what goes up must come down, so coasting back to the pier recharges the legs.  The downside is the weather - last year it was attrocious which made it quite a challenge, this year perfect and loads of people got pbs.  Bit of a gamble as in Feb.  That said - Brighton doesn't have a lot of character IMHO - not like Bewl 15 which is fantastic.  Was slower at Bewl but much preferred the whole experience, despite the challenging hills in the last third! 

 Paddock Wood is supposed to be ideal for pbs.......am definately going to have a go next year.

Cooks,

I am thinking of Brighton as my re-introduction to half marathons, as previously had bad experiences on my only other 2 the last couple of years (Fitness in both, and course in one ). Would you say that Brighton is a good 'beginner' half, as like Fraser I am not a great lover of hills at the moment

Hi Bob

 IMHO Brighton would be good for getting back into hms..........although there is the risk of the weather.  It was my first ever half last year and I did struggle (basically didn't flex my pacing to allow for the weather and the 3-4 mile drag along the front into the strong wind & rain did for me).  But take 2 this year was a very easy flat run and snagged a pb by 8 plus mins.  The hill, as someone else mentioned in the thread, is about a mile or two in and last for about a mileish but is pretty gentle and gradual.  That said I'm a bit of a fan of hills and my training usually takes in undulating/hilly routes.............Worth browsing the event reviews on here - should get a better feel for the detail pretty quickly.

 Of course Paddock Wood is supposed to be flat as a pancake and being at the end of March, less risk from the weather, so if you're relatively local then maybe worth considering.......I'm going to sign up with a view to a pb attempt but I do live fairly locally to PW..............

 Which HMs did you do sir?

 Cooks

Hi Cooks,

I am local, in Tonbridge.

I did the 'Run to the Beat' in 2009, as my first ever run (for charity) and the 'Royal parks half' in 2010. Both were in extremely hot weather, and if I am honest, my training never took me past 8 miles, and was sporadic to say the least. The run to the beat had a horrible hill going into greenwich park( I think) and that was after about 5 miles I think - that had a big effect on me, and I strained both calf and hamstrings, but did complete !

I managed to get similar injuries for the royal parks as well, around about 7 miles, again most likely because of lack of training.

I decided to be a bit more comitted this year, and to try and run/train 2 or 3 times a week, with the view to getting some miles under my belt to hopefully make life easier. I have only been doing 10ks this year, with a view to mileage rather than speed, but thought that after a year, maybe I should try a hal again. (And I am in the London Marathon ballot - but highly unlikely that I will get a place)

Hi Bob

It's a small world!

Great stuff on getting around!  I tried to get into the Royal Parks HM this year but was one of the unlucky ones in the ballot.........  It sounds as if your training mileage is on the light side but if you've been doing 10ks this year (did you do Weald? Now there's a hilly one!) you've probably got a good base to build on - 3 times a week obviously better if you can fit it in..... Not sure what you do for planning training but worth looking at the BUPA plans, they do beginners, intermediate & advanced plans for 10ks through to maras and they're dead easy to follow, the half programme got me through my first half pretty well!  And plenty of time to build back up for Feb/Mar next year...........................

 Will keep my fingers crossed for you re London!

Cooks wrote (see)

PS Very  sorry to see that you are a Lion! Up the Eagles!!

I'm very sorry that I am a Lion as well at the moment !

I am doing 4 runs a week now, and trying to be sensible with the increases, up to 16 miles/week at the moment, with 6 my longest, although that long run will be increasing over the next month.

Got the Brighton 10k in November. Did Bedgebury trailblazers and the Great British 10 k a few months ago.

Also ahve bedgebury and the london bupa 10k lined up for next year

Good luck to you also, and thanks in advance for our 3 points on new years eve !

I'm in for Brighton & London 10ks too - great minds and all that.............

 As for NYE - you're most welcome

thank you Cooks and Bob in advance for your 6 points each   Paul Jewell seems to have finally  sorted out the shambles

well it was undulating wasn't it! and if you were light on training like I was, those last couple of undulating miles really hurt in the warm weather we had for it.  Still managed a PB though (by three quarters of a minute), but just missed going under 2 hours by an agonising 23 seconds.  A cooler day or more training would have made the difference, or a flatter course.

Well run event, well looked after and great getting your medal from Dame Kelly.  Well Supported and enjoyable to have the roads to ourselves and not have to worry about traffic (although I think cyclists should also be prevented from using the roads - when your body wants you to stop and the best you can do is to keep going in automatic mode, its a nuisance to have to contend with somebody on a bike who thinks they are no trouble to anyone).  It would be great if all races had no traffic.

Hope everybody else had a good run/positive experience.

That's me done now until the Spring, see you at Paddock Wood possibly.

Andy

 I would like you commend you on a fantastic race. It was superbly organised, great testing course which had a bit of everything. Support was fantastic all around the course and goody bag impressive too, even street entertainers for the kids which i thought was a nice touch. Great to see Dame Kelly starting and handing out medals - top girl. Definitely best race I participated in for a long while, it had everything, great value for £20, rather you not increase it though

@Fraser -glad you did it, enjoyed and set a new pb. I think the challenges which undulating courses provide only make you a better runner, I always have a personal battle to power up the hills. I'm sure you will improve your pb several times more!

 see you next year

@Skippy's right peg (and anybody else).

Not the right thread, but picking up on something you've said....

I see you've run Bedgebury Trailblazers. I've looked at that for this year but it seems inordinately expensive - £30 for a 10k - £5/mile!  They 'give' a shirt, but who needs yet another running shirt; and car parking is included, but that means if 2 of us enter and come in the same car we are effectively paying parking for 2 cars!  

When you consider that against some of my favourites, eg: Bluewater 10k, and the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Halfs where they also throw in a shirt and car parking is free, and the Reading and Brighton Halfs where you can buy a shirt and pay for car parking, Bedgebury seems incredibly expensive. I certainly don't know another 10k that's that pice.

If they were to reduce the price and do the same as Reading and Brighton and offer a shirt if you want to buy it and sell a car park ticket if you want one, then maybe I'd do it.

How otherwise can you justify paying £30 for just a 10k run?  Is it really worth it for a gentle jog around woodland?  Please convince me!

@Knockoff NC.

Can well recommend the Darent Valley 10k.  No fuss, small, great people, totally friendly, well organised, and a beautiful run with a great 2 mile downhill to the finish.  And probably the most attractive medal ever, being a different local scene (in colour) each year.

Go for it!

Bedgebury Trailblazer out, Darent valley in! I am a local too, or was so I expect to participating and great timing for the london taper...great little race, parking is brilliant too and free!

@knockoff NC and @grandadnohair :

Yes bedgebury is a tad expensive, but I think it's because it's geered up to reduce in price if you do all 3 in the series, although it is still not that cheap. It's a nice run and I enjoyed it last year, and will be doing it again, despite the cost.

I am also doing Darent Valley, typically because it goes through areas that I used to frequent as a kid, both through school field trips and later as a drinking teen !

Did sevenoaks 10k a couple of weeks ago which was also a nice run - I have been told that although there is a hill through a farm(?) at Darent, it's a little easier than sevenoaks. Hope so !

Also got Bupa 10k in London lined up and am thinking about the spartan sprint and eridge 10, as my work has entered a team into the north west tough mudder in november, so need to get stronger and better !

Enjoy your running guys !