Torbay Half Marathon, 26 Jun 2022

I hadn’t looked at the forecast, and actually hoped it would be warm and sunny like it had been all week. Morning of, it was overcast and windy! (You know it’s extra windy when the numbers are in bold on the MET office 😂).

Race plan was to hit 70.3 pace, have fun, don’t bonk! I lined up fairly near the front and still had to dodge a fair few people to get some free space to run. Definitely set off too fast though, but it felt easy (4:22/km for the first km… oops!). I then dropped the pace a bit, doing my best to keep consistent, despite the wind and hills.

The course was 2 loops from Paignton to Torquay with a hill between both, meaning we had to do it 4 times! The way out was comfortable and I felt able to keep the pace on the hills, coming back was tough and one particular section where the wind felt so so strong. I made sure to have a gel half way to keep me going and avoid the bonk!

Coming into the final couple kilometres, I felt like I had a lot left in the tank so comfortably upped the pace! My finishing time was 1:35:19, 9th female and 2nd in the 20-29 AG! Very pleased with the overall result!

Holly-Mei Jones