It’s been a bit since I completed one of my 40 Things before 40 challenges and this one was a bit of a last minute decision! On Sunday July 21st I RAN A HALF MARATHON! No I can’t quite believe it either.

It was completely unplanned, my running buddy, Tim, had planned to run it with his daughter but she had to drop out due to an injury, so I volunteered to step in.

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The Wild One Worcester

I knew very little about what was on the cards other than it is 10 laps of 2.62 miles and the aim was we would do half each.

I realised I was probably going to need some sort of gel product and had this Voom sample pack I got a few weeks back, so perfect time to try it!

They are bars rather than liquid gels and actually taste wise they weren’t too terrible. They were definitely better when they had been in the cool box than tucked in my bra strap but they did the job!

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The Wild One Route

Even looking at this map now, I have no idea where I was at any point, which was probably for the best. By the 3rd lap I sort of had a sense of where half way ish was and where there would be slight inclines to contend with.

After the juniors had done their Wild Mile it was time for us to go!

We decided I should do the first 2 laps to see how I got on and then decide how we would do the rest. Tim was happy to do extra laps if need be. We were given a baton with a tracker in which would track our lap times.

I got round and first 2 laps without too much bother – it was just slightly over the distance I currently run on a Thursday. So I was confident that would be ok for me!

Time set off for his 2 laps while I had a loo break and refuelled with my Voom bars and lots of water!

It was really great knowing at the end/start of each lap you could use the toilet, grab a drink and catch your breath before heading out for the next lap. One thing that massively puts me off running races is not knowing where there will be a toilet so this one was perfect for me.

It was pretty cloudy for most of the morning, although very warm, the cloud cover kept it from being quite so hot. Until it didn’t, Tim and I decided to just alternate one on one off for the last 6 laps and as I set off for my 4th lap the sun came out in full force.

This was were I did start to question if I was going to be able to manage this. I did keep a slow jog all the way round though thankfully! My lap 5 to complete my half marathon distance (our lap 9 in total) was horrendously hot!

So close to the Half Marathon finish!

It was the first time all day I had to walk a small distance between 2 marshals because I was worried I might pass out in the meadow! Thankfully I managed to get through it and I was so glad to see the finish line for the last time.

I ran back to Tim for the last 100m so we could cross the finish line together. We were the last pair to finish, although no the last finishers overall as some crazy crazy people doing the ultra challenge of as many laps as possible in seven hours. Think i’ll sit that one out!

I did Lap 1, Lap 2, Lap 5, Lap 7 and Lap 9, yep Tim is faster than me! Here are my strava splits for comparison.

I absoloutly loved it and I will 100% be going back next year, I might even try a solo marathon! I have 2 more half marathons in Sept and April next year which I am raising funds for Tommy’s you can sponsor me here

@itsmechrissyj

So yesterday I did a thing! When Tim’s daughter had to drop out I offered to take her place, I have never done more than 10k so this was a massive jump up for me! But I thought as it would be a relay there would be opportunities to rest in between. We both did 2 laps back to back to start us off and then alternated for the rest. The last lap for me was the worst as the sun was out in full force and with very little shade on the course it made every step seem so much harder. I managed to run all but a couple of minutes in lap 5 where the sun was just too much and I didn’t want to pass out between 2 Marshall points! I’m so proud of myself for doing it and can’t believe I managed the distance! I have 2 more half marathons pencilled in for September and April so can’t wait to do it all again 😍 Would highly recommend this race to anyone who wanted to test out their distance running in slightly smaller chunks – you can do Solo marathon or half marathon, pair marathon or even marathon with a team of up to 5. There’s toilets at the lap handover and refreshments available so it was the perfect setting for my first try 😀 #thewildoneworcester #blackpairjoggers #bpj #running #halfmarathon

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