Oxford Half Marathon, 12 Oct 2025
After completing my first half marathon in March earlier this year, I knew I wanted to set myself a next challenge and aim to go sub 1:30 in the HM distance while raising funds for Cancer Research UK in memory of my mum who passed away from breast cancer in 2019. Since July, I have put in the most consistent block of training I’ve probably ever done comprising of 4 weekly runs and 3 gym sessions (with a bike or a swim thrown in!) and apart from a hip niggle which made me miss one run and a local 10km race, kept to everything (even those dreaded VO2max sessions!).
Fast forward to the 7-day period leading up to the race, I began to feel apprehensive – I did a tempo session on the Monday while recovering from a slight cold which felt hard and not even at intended race pace, and acutely felt the pressure to meet the expectations in my intended target time as part of my fundraising. But I knew there was nothing more I could do to prepare, and made sure to hydrate well in that week with my last shakeout run completed on the Friday and Saturday evening comprising of lots of carb loading in the form of chicken lasagne and garlic bread!
Sunday – 0545 alarm. Race conditions: slight misty but no wind and a relatively chilly temperature of 9 degrees. Aka perfect race conditions. Out of the house at 0700 with coffee and peanut butter toast munched on in the car, and arrival in Oxford via the park and ride bus. A 20-minute walk to the event village featured a pit stop to McDonalds toilets for the usual pre-race rituals(!).
A couple of pictures, switch into my race trainers and a good luck kiss from my partner Sam, I made the 15 min walk to the start line from the event village. I had decided not to queue for the portaloos which had THE worst queues I have ever witnessed for an event. But my 10 minute warm up turned into a 2 minute jog (sorry Tim!) as I realised I did really need the toilet and there were no facilities! I took a left hand turn and thought I may have to squat behind some prestigious Oxford College buildings when I saw a student coming out of their accommodation block and frantically ran over to ask if he knew if there was a toilet nearby. The student very kindly let me into his accommodation so I could use the communal toilet and I am very indebted to his helpfulness!
As you can imagine the pens were busy and I was standing for about 20 minutes waiting to go. I took on a gel 10 minutes before the start and suddenly thought to myself maybe I can do this. Race horn went and we were off! I had seen the 1:30 pacers ahead but hadn’t been able to get near due to the number of participants. I intentionally went above target pace to catch the pacers to help keep me accountable to time (plus race adrenaline!). My first 3km were at approximately 4:05 km pace but by this point I had caught up with the pacers so I knew I was above the 1:30 target.
The first 9km absolutely flew by and got into a good rhythm, and was pleased with my pacing with a consistent 8km ranging between 4:12-4:15, bang on target race pace! At the 45 minute mark (so roughly halfway in my time target) I took on a gel and could not believe how good I still felt!
I began to slightly up the pace at km 12 and ran ahead of the pacers which up to that point I had intentionally run beside, wanting to be conservative and stick to the plan. The last 5km began to bite but kept chugging along as didn’t want to risk throwing it away in the last 5km and was spurred on by a spectator commenting “wow she looks so fit”! The last 3km routed into Oxford University Park onto a windy path that seemed to take us further away from the finish line than nearer! KM 20 was my slowest at 4:20 but I paced it up on the last km culminating into a sprint finish (a 3:48 pace on the last 200 metres!) and crossed the finish line!
With some sore ankles (carbon plate trainers are not supportive!), I walked back to the event village with my medal around my neck and some very happy emotional tears realising I had done it – I had broken the magic 1:30 and just wished my lovely mum could have been there to see it! Chip Time: 1:29:13, Garmin Time: 1:28:56, Strava Time: 1:28:30. 43rd woman overall and 512th overall out of 9630 runners! At time of writing £2,880 raised for Cancer Research UK.
In the days since, I have had so many colleagues, clients, friends and family congratulate me on both my time and fundraising so cannot thank Tim enough for his input into making this happen, and to what will now always be a very special race in my heart and hard to live up to! The lesson learnt is to not to believe Strava race predictions and that consistency will always trump big ‘flashy’ sessions [although my sessions ARE great, Tim].
Emily Grapes