I received a message a few months back asking if I would be interested in pacing the Swansea Half Marathon as part of the Racecheck team.  I had never paced an event before and Swansea was a long, long drive from where I live, but I agreed to the request and also to take on the tricky 1:35:00 target.  It was one of the best decisions I have made and has now left me writing this review already thinking about signing up for next year’s race.

The Avery Fan Club and I arrived the day before and had a little look around of the starting area and where it was I needed to be.  There were rows and rows of portacabins and the start line hadn’t been set up yet, but from all the pre-race instructions and information we had been sent, I found it with ease and this settled the nerves before the day.

After a tricky night’s sleep, we had our brekkie and then made our way back to the start line and registration area.  Although it was early, there was a great atmosphere building and I picked up my pacing flag and number in no time and caught up with some people that I hadn’t seen for a few months who were part of the pace team.  A chap named Paul was the other 1:35:00 pacer and we agreed that I would be the one who ran in miles and he would run in km’s so that those who were running with us had the right information they needed and after catching up with my pals Baz and Kaya, I went into pen B.  The Welsh national anthem played and after a minutes applause for James Holman, the countdown was over and we were away!

The first few miles through the town centre were slightly congested and although the first mile was particularly tricky due to running round people, we hit the mile mark on the money and were well into the swing early.  The weather forecast had predicted that it would be wet on the day, but apart from the occasional wind, it was a warm day for all those taking part.  The first two miles around town were great and with a bit of fist pumping and encouraging the crowd, the Welsh locals were excellent.  Leaving the town centre was slightly quieter after mile three and towards four and five, but it was nice to have a chat with the runners as we went along and help them on their way.

The sea front only a hundred metres provided some wonderful scenery and at the turning point at mile six, the race changed and we were now running next to the beach.  The wind had picked up slightly, but everyone running with us trying to get their 1:35:00 were an excellent group and made the experience more enjoyable.  Although they were finding it tough, it was inspiring for me seeing them all really trying to hit their target and that in turn kept me going too.  Paul was also running superbly just behind me and we kept telling those around that the plan was to create a ‘safety net’ - you wouldn’t need to worry about looking at watches or times, just stay between Paul and I and you would get your sub 1:35:00.  I was running at 1:34:00 pace and Paul was running at just under 1:35:00 - that was the plan and it was working really well.

Before coming into the town centre for the finish we looped around the outskirts of the marina and the wind was really picking up at this point.  The headwind created an issue for the other runners, but I was shouting at them to keep going and counting down every half a mile and mile they had left to go.  Coming up to the final stretch was great and a lot of the runners who I had with me throughout had shot on ahead and although I overtook a few, it was brilliant to see them going for it and giving it all they had.  It was absolutely amazing seeing them get their times and they were the real heroes of the day.  I crossed the finish line in 1:34:02 and Paul finished about 30 seconds after me.  Although slightly quick on my side, the plan had worked and there were a good few that were in between us and they had managed to comfortably get their 1:35:00 time.

I collected my medal and bright yellow finishers shirt and made my way to the bag drop.  There was some slight confusion and it took me a while to get my bag, but this was the only tiny blemish on what was an amazing race and an amazing day.

A huge thank you to RaceCheck for having me as part of the day on an unforgettable day, thank you to everyone who ran with me as you were all bloody brilliant and thank you to Swansea for hosting such a wonderful race.  Hopefully see you again next year!