Durham Coast Half Marathon 2013

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Matt Claydon

This was the inaugural Durham Coast Half Marathon heading south from Seaham down to Crimdon Park. A surprisingly scenic run for those like me that had only ever walked the dog at Blackhall Rocks. For most this included a 2mile stretch up and down Hawthorn Dene, unfortunately the first three home apparently omitted this part of the race through no fault of their own. Spare a thought for two of them who had finished on the podium at the Sunderland Half Marathon last month only to find out the full distance had not been covered then either (source: Peterlee Star).

Personally, I would have been quite happy to knock a few metres off the race, but I would have chosen to miss out the steep steps up the side of each dene we passed through. I ran up the first, jogged the next, then walked, then crawled. It was absolutely exhausting. Had I been a little more organised I would have noted these inclines on the map provided and set off at a more sensible pace. As it was I set off at my usual pace, which as usual proved to be too fast. After a couple of miles a peloton of 6 or 7 runners had formed about 50m ahead of me, with the race leaders already out of sight. My aim was to catch them and try to stick with them as long as possible. This proved to be optimistic as they forged ahead, although I managed to catch a couple of stragglers giving me hope. By the time I had scaled the second steep steps this hope hade long faded and I settled down to run my own race.

Company was few and far between with the 200+ runners stretched out along the clifftop. By 9miles I had reached the point where I just wanted it to be over, the inclines having drained all my energy. I was grateful that it was at least an overcast day and not the scorcher that Saturday had been. Small mercies. At this point I was somewhat bemused by a fellow runner having stopped ahead of me to take a phone call. I hoped it was not an emergency, but he helpfully pointed out the route ahead. I felt a little unsure as I reached the top of the sand dunes, and just as I was about to head down on to the beach I was compelled to shout back to him for confirmation. ‘No, sorry, I meant down the steps over there’ he replied. So off I set to try and retake a runner that had taken the opportunity to pass me, passing the missing marshal as she appeared from the bushes. I managed to catch the guy a couple of times as we worked our way to the finish, but he succeeded in the final push. I must admit feeling a little deflated when the substitute marshal also overtook me.

Still all in all I was pleased at the end, I managed a decent time (1.36) on a tough route, and if I manage a PB at Newton Aycliffe next week this will be why. Obviously the organisation needs a little work, but I can hardly complain I had intended to park up at the finish and get the bus up to the start, but was so badly prepared I got the race upside down and ended up at the start. At least I had time for a quick kip.

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