Cambridge Half Marathon, 6 Mar 2022

I last ran Cambridge Half Marathon in 2020 with my friend Ellie and her dad as part of a fun weekend trip. It was a fantastic event with great crowds and I ended up with a PB (1 h 31 min)! However, the run itself was a totally horrific experience and one of the toughest races I have ever completed… I set off far too quickly for my target time of sub 1 h 35, and had no idea how I was pacing myself (I wasn’t!). In fact, 10 km in I was somehow ahead of the 1 h 30 pacers. Two years later, and now a more experienced runner with a few more half marathons under my belt, I was signed up again. This time I aimed to pace it well and PB with a sub 1 h 28 min time. 

It was pretty chilly on the day of the race, but I was hopeful that the sun might come out and decided to brave it in shorts and t-shirt. The crowds were incredible - there were over 14,000 runners that morning. I was in the first wave of runners and nervous to get going. We set off and I was so full of adrenaline that I perhaps went off a little hard. I was aware of this, but equally, being a few seconds ahead of target couldn’t harm, right?

I enjoyed taking in the sights around town and the mini tour of several Cambridge college grounds on route. I realised perhaps I was going off a little too quickly around 5 km in when my fellow OUTriC friend Jonny, who was aiming for a time at least a few minutes faster than me, ran past me! I steadied up, but at this stage the pacing on my watch was very inaccurate and I was having to run based on how I felt rather than keeping track of the pace. I made the decision then to just keep pushing and see what happened. Fly and die!

I aimed to stick with a similar crowd of runners, hope that they were pacing their race well, and see if I could hold on to the end. There were a couple of points in the race where I did struggle - around 8 km and 16 km, but I took a couple of gels and this definitely helped. Half way in and the course headed uphill out of town and this section was a drag. It was a relief to get back into town, where there were more crowds and cheers to spur me on.

The race was tough, but I had the experience of having run several half marathons before to be able make my way round the course and keep pushing even through the difficult parts. I ran far faster than I had planned and completed the race in 1 h 25 min 54 sec! A PB by 2 min 30 sec! I was 8th in my age group and 39th female. I was chuffed and didn’t believe I had it in me!

It was lovely to celebrate in the pub afterwards with several of my triathlon club friends and I very much enjoyed re-fuelling with a gigantic roast later in the day.

Jenny Carter