I picked up my race number and ankle chip the day before and the finish line had already been set up. I arrived at the start only to find that the queues for the 4 portaloos was huge! I was waiting for around 20-30mins which meant that I started later than I was hoping to. There was a rolling start which I found a little underwhelming! There were 4 or 5 water stations that had small cups of water or electrolyte juice and also energy gels.

There were buses for people who needed to park at the finish and then get to the start. There was also a baggage van to take items to the finish but I didnt need to use either of these services.

The marshals were friendly and helpful, and all went well until I got to Cubbins Green, which was about 11.5miles in. I followed the directions of the marshal and started to run on the grass. Then I didn’t know where to go next and was expecting another marshal and a timing mat (I had read this on the Run Organisers website) but I ended up going the wrong way and heading back to be spotted by a another marshal who asked “where have you come from, didn’t you see the arrow?” I followed her directions to get back on track and got quite upset at this point as I thought that I’d missed a timing mat and would be disqualified! After pulling myself together, I carried on for the last 1.5miles to the finish line where I was met by some enthusiastic supporters (at last!) and the PA calling out my name!

A nice touch was the 2 marshals at the finish who took my ankle tag off for me (I obviously looked like I was about to collapse!) and placed my medal around my neck! (Much better than being handed a bag which contains the medal!)

This was my first Half Marathon so I don’t have anything to compare it with, other than the 10K races that I have done previously.

It was ideal for me as it was local and so my nerves didn’t have chance to build too much! However I found the route quite tough mentally as there wasn’t any support and I found it quite lonely!

They did provide a lovely, quite unique medal!

For future years, the Organisers need to set up a couple more portaloos at the start to help with the queues. I’m not sure if the confusion at Cubbins Green was my own fault and I missed the arrow (it was very sunny and icy, and the glare in my eyes was strong) or whether the arrow had indeed been moved/taken – but I had been expecting a marshal/timing mat (as per website) so it caused confusion and a little upset at the time!