Hampton Court Half Marathon, 26 Mar 2023

Waking on the morning of Sunday 26th March, I was glad the wind had dropped from the day before to make the extremely wet conditions ‘slightly’ more bearable! At least the rain wouldn’t be horizontal in my face! With rain forecast all morning I decided to wear my rain jacket and a cap. I had high hopes of going sub 2 hours (for the first time) but had even bigger goals based on my current form. Unfortunately the 1:50 pacer set off too early so I missed him, but did have rough pace splits on my watch to follow.

Just after 09:10 my wave set off, and there was a bit of tussling as everybody set into their rhythm, the first part of the course was along a footpath beside the river, nice and flat but full of puddles from the rain the previous days. Not wanting to get my shoes soaked too early (as I was in road shoes not trail shoes) I tried to avoid them as best as possible to keep my feet as dry as I could for as long as I could. The first few kms were quick (for me) but didn’t feel too strained, so I settled a little into the pace, taking my foot off the gas ever so slightly. After the first couple of miles we crossed over Kingston bridge and made our way back along the river, seeing the splits at a similar consistency and conscious I didn’t want to blow up, I slowed my pace slightly. At about 8km despite the continued rain, my head was getting hot so I ditched the cap (next time I might go for my visor instead). Then at 10km I took a walking break whilst I had my gel (I still can’t take a gel and run at the same time!), this was a good time to assess how my legs were feeling, and they felt good. The next 5km also felt good as coming to the end of it we then re-joined the towpath next to the river - more puddle dodging but much easier this time as the crowds had thinned. At 16km I could feel my left quad start to get tight, over the next km my right quad also started to get tight so I slowed the pace so that I could still keep going to the end. The water station with 2.5 ish miles to go I walked through and also took a stop to stretch my calves out as they had also begun to seize (uh oh) but I knew the end was in sight, just a little bit further to go.

We re-entered Hampton Court grounds and this is where the real fun began. Legs were sore, every step hurt, but now there was the added fun of trying to stay upright as the probably usually alright grass/track path was waterlogged and a complete slip and slide, with road shoes on I either tried to hit the seemingly dryer grass or go straight through the puddles where there seemed to be more traction. My splits getting increasingly slower, I knew my 1:50 goal was off, but hoped I could still go sub 1:55. The never-ending 3k of trails finally came to an end and with just the final 0.1 mile to go I found it in me to attempt some sort of ‘sprint finish’ - I stopped the watch and was happy to see 1:53! Which technically is a 17 minute PB, but closer to an 8 minute PB after my last fastest time the course was slightly short. Although this is incredible, I can’t help being a little disappointed knowing that I have 1.50 in me, but given the conditions and how early on in the season we are, and it’s a significant PB there are many positives to take!  Now the next goal of sub 1:50!

Lottie Lindsley