I only signed up for this race 3 weeks ago, mainly due to the Weston Super Half being cancelled as a result of snow and icy conditions. After putting in hours of training and long runs only to be denied the opportunity to run, I was desperate to get something in the diary as quickly as possible so the training didn’t go to waste. I was particularly keen to race within an hour or so of home (after travelling long distances for Watford and Brighton), so was delighted to see that the Taunton Half Marathon (via Full On Sport) still had places available. I think many people had a similar idea to me (due to a significant number of races in the region/UK being cancelled over the past month due to snow) and as it turned out the Taunton Half was eventually over-subscribed due to a last minute influx of runners trying to get their fix elsewhere!

After doing some research into the event, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was the 35^th year of the Taunton Marathon and Half Marathon event, which indicated that it is clearly a respected and well-revered race on the running calendar. The price was reasonable (£24 plus a finishers t-shirt and medal) and I quickly got the impression that it was rich in community participation and history. A question I asked the organisers by email was answered by the Race Director himself, John Lewis, within an hour, and I later heard that all proceeds from the race are donated towards the cost of the annual Taunton Carnival, held later in the year.

Race packs and instructions were sent out in good time; containing details of directions, local car parking and other useful race-day information. HQ for the event was Taunton College, situated in the centre of town where the marathon and half would both start and finish. The marathon was two laps of the course with the option for those runners to drop-out at the end of the first lap if they decided that another 13 miles wasn’t the best way to spend a Sunday morning!

I had a fairly eventful lead-up to the race, which mainly consisted of straining a muscle in my upper leg whilst gardening on the Friday before (don’t ask…) and also drinking far too much with neighbours on the same night, despite me convincing myself that I’d just ‘have a few’ as I knew I was racing on the Sunday! (again, don’t ask…), so Saturday was a write-off, with me hobbling around the house generally feeling sorry for myself.

Still ached on Sunday morning and didn’t feel too great, as the booze was taking an eternity to wear-off, so for the first time in my life, I travelled to a race not looking forward to it and not being particularly bothered about how I ran. I had no motivation or excitement or any of the usual pre-race nerves…I just wanted to get it over and done with and go home.

I arrived in Taunton fairly early (you never know what to expect with the M5, so I gave myself extra time to get there) and had a little wander around the college grounds to familiarise myself with the set-up and where everything was, before making my way (thanks to the directions of John Lewis) to the Sports Hall, where there were changing rooms, toilets and a bag drop in the main hall. It was the first race I’d entered that didn’t have dozens of toilet cubicles around the grounds, as they relied on the facilities within the college themselves. Even 15 minutes before the race (which started at 10.30am) there didn’t seem to be any real queues, which was great to see.

It was a fairly small field, consisting of roughly 1,100 running the half and 500 doing the longer marathon distance. It was the furthest south I’d run to date, so it was interesting to see that many of the usual running club vests and logos had been replaced with many from Cornwall and Devon which I wasn’t familiar with, which was great to see and made a nice change! There were also a high proportion of people running for charities, which again reaffirmed my impression that this was a strong, locally supported race with a tight-knit community feel about it.

The runners lined up together in the starting pen, with the half participants on the left and the marathon runners on the right. The only difference between the sets of runners was that the latter had race numbers on their fronts and backs.

The weather was ideal for racing; heavy grey skies that threatened rain which never materialized and a temperate of 9 degrees with the wind speed only around 4/5 mph.

Aside from my negative attitude (!), I was aware that I’d be running without a pacemaker for the first time in about 3 years, so I was going to have to run the race using my own judgement and pace rather than sitting on someone else’s shoulder letting them do all the work; which generally consists of carrying the stress of in-race management and the expectation of runners looking for PB’s!

The race started on time and I was soon weaving my way through the crowds of runners trying to find some rhythm and clear space as quickly as possible. The first mile took us into the main town, out through the suburbs and towards the edge of Taunton. After approaching a large roundabout, we filed left and made out way into some picturesque and stunning countryside. I had no idea how quickly I was running at the beginning, but I could feel that it was a struggle and that my body didn’t fancy running 13 miles today! My first mile was 7.25, followed by a more sensible 7.46, so if I could keep that kind of pace going, I’d be very happy. The terrain started to rise and fall regularly as we entered rural Taunton and mile 3 seemed to be a never ending climb…which wasn’t what I’d signed up for. Whilst I ran this in around 7.35(the life quickly being sucked out of my lungs!), it dawned on me that I hadn’t given any thought to the actually geography of the course and whether or not it was flat, hilly or somewhere in the middle!

The next few miles consisted of the same ups and downs (mainly ups!) and I was having to work hard to keep my pace consistent and even started using my arms to motor me along, since my legs weren’t feeling particularly strong. So many people have told me that arms are important when you run, so I finally put that to good effect today!

After another tough incline (running a mile at 8.07), it finally flattened out and I approach mile 6 knowing I was close to the half way point, so only had to count the miles down to the finished once I’d broken the back at 6.5 miles. It’s pretty clear to see that at this point, I still had no motivation and this was actually becoming a chore!

But!...as I turned the corner to run into another rural lane there was a drinks station manned (with supervision!) by small school children (maybe 7 or 8 year olds) handing out bottles of water and cheering the runners. Out of nowhere, my attitude and approach to the race completely altered (whether it was the knowledge that I’ve got a little girl of a similar age at home that I love to pieces and it reminded me of her, I don’t know) and I began to smile and high-five some of them as I ran past. I got that goosebumps/hairs standing on the back of the neck feeling that suddenly put me into a competitive mindset.

Whilst I was running reasonably well (albeit struggling), I knew a PB was beyond me, but decided to set myself a new challenging of finishing strongly, to actually enjoy the race and to set a ‘non-pacemaker PB’.

A much needed downhill section of the race quickly following and I started to push myself. A decent mile (7.58) allowed me to finally find a steady, comfortable rhythm and I thought a strong second half/final 3 miles would be a real confidence booster and that if I could run a half-decent time with a hangover, stiff legs and no pacemaker, what could I do fully fit!

There was a small hill at around 7.5 miles and then a fairly challenging one at 9.5 miles before it flattened out once again. At 10 miles I actually felt good and was getting a second wind and began looking to run people down who had overtaken me in the ‘dark’ miles between 3 and 6. However, just as I thought I was clear of hills, we were faced with a pig of a climb at around 11.5 miles. Whilst I lost some time negotiating this one, I overtook at number of people and whooped out loudly as a reached the top, and clapped the crowd of enthusiastic spectators who’d helped get me to the top!

Surely there couldn’t be any more hills now as we were only a couple of miles from home! I’d lost time on miles 10 and 12 (c.8.15’s), but know a decent last mile and a quarter should be enough to get me home in under 1.45, which was my target time at mile 6, when my mood had significantly risen from the ashes!

I continued to overtake runners as we entered the college grounds and put in one final shift to finish in 1.43.44. I was overjoyed with the time, especially given that it was a fairly a challenging race (compared to the flat courses of Brighton and Stroud where I’d run quicker and with pacer assistance!), but the thing I was most pleased about was that I hadn’t felt like dying in the last 2 or 3 miles as I had done in races gone by. Whilst I wasn’t flying, I felt in control and that there was some strength there if it had been needed. i.e, to break a PB.

The marshals along the route had been incredible. Amazingly supportive, informative and on-hand to direct vehicles entering lanes away from the runners. The spectators who had come out in the more rural parts of the course and had congregated on the roadside of the small villages had been brilliant too.

The medal and t-shirt were great and there was no queue to reclaim my bag at the end.

I have to say I have total admiration for the marathon runners who had to negotiate the route twice! Those hills were bad enough once, but knowing you’ve got to face them again…

Going into the race, I had little to no expectation. I just wanted to run a half in April and this events location and availability happened to tick all the boxes. However, after running my first half in Somerset, I came away feeling privileged to have been part of such a well organised and friendly race and I sincerely wish John Lewis, the events team and the volunteers every success for future events.