Striders who know me will know that I am not usually one for the roads but that I have been turning up for some of the club’s classic road races over the last couple of years: GNR, Brampton and the GNR again! This year I decided to tick off the Brass Monkey, though given the 90 minutes I spent trying to access a crashing Knavesmire Harriers’ website it was nearly a write off before I even started. Having managed the almost impossible, to get just one entry into the race – no more, no fewer! – I joined 20 or so Striders on the bus to York very early on a cold January Sunday morning; a similar number made their own way there. By the time we got to York the forecast “sunny periods” hadn’t arrived and so I prepared for a wet run. But, by the start, it was a bit warmer than at home and so the thermal came off and my gloves and hat were left in my bag. In fact it was probably pretty ideal: the cold side of mild, overcast, light drizzle and no wind.
I’d not really prepared for a half marathon relying instead on it being a comfortable distance for me. In fact several days cross-country skiing the previous weekend, including a very tough 15km of a disastrous ski marathon, had taken their toll. I hadn’t realised quite how much until about halfway round the Brass Monkey lollipop of a course. Muscles that really shouldn’t ache when running started to ache, muscles that I only ever seem to use for skiing but muscles that were still complaining. It made for a very painful final six miles. What probably made things worse was that everyone says this is a potential PB course. No wind, no sun, and nicely cool just added to that potential, a potential my brain didn’t want to waste even if my legs did. So I punished my legs more than I probably should have, but I did get that PB.
For those who have not yet done this half marathon, the course is a mix of minor and more minor roads. I’d say it’s as flat as a pancake but the bridge over the A64 is a nasty little climb when your legs are tired after 12 miles of pounding the roads. It’s well marshalled with three well-placed water points. There are some great patches of support as you pass through a couple of villages and there is fantastic support at the finish, well there was by the time I finished. There’s even a bit of wild life to see, about half way round a weasel darted across the road in front of me carrying something like a vole in its mouth.
Once we were all in and changed – and it’s great to be able to get changed in the warm, dry comfort of the race course main building – it was back on the bus for Shipton. It was a short bus trip to the Dawnay Arms for Sunday lunch and a couple of very welcome pints, then a longer sleepier bus trip back to Durham. A tiring but enjoyable day, but one my legs are not going to let me forget just yet.
Results
Pos | Name | Club | Cat | Chip Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Matthew Peirson | Holmfirth Harriers | M | 1:10:19 |
19 | Jilly Woodthorpe | Barnsley AC | F35 | 1:15:57 |
83 | Gareth Pritchard | M | 1:21:58 | |
153 | Paul Evans | M | 1:25:51 | |
181 | Graeme Walton | M40 | 1:27:17 | |
294 | Jeremy Lloyd | M45 | 1:31:08 | |
343 | Katy Walton | F | 1:33:24 | |
347 | Rachel Terry | F40 | 1:33:27 | |
376 | Stewart Mcconnell | M | 1:33:29 | |
367 | Jonathan Steed | M40 | 1:33:50 | |
511 | Colin Blackburn | M50 | 1:38:11 | |
520 | Michael Hughes | M45 | 1:38:15 | |
715 | Alister Robson | M40 | 1:44:56 | |
759 | Rachael Bullock | F | 1:46:00 | |
826 | Jane Ives | F40 | 1:47:53 | |
846 | Lucy Cowton | F | 1:48:37 | |
908 | Jackie McKenna | F45 | 1:51:13 | |
1037 | Paul Beal | M50 | 1:54:02 | |
1042 | Alan Smith | M65 | 1:55:49 | |
1045 | Richard Hall the Younger | M45 | 1:54:36 | |
1050 | Jacquie Robson | F35 | 1:55:01 | |
1090 | Kirsty Anderson | F35 | 1:56:24 | |
1104 | Laura Turnbull | F | 1:57:04 | |
1140 | Ian Spencer | M50 | 1:58:08 | |
1164 | Kathryn Sygrove | F45 | 1:59:38 | |
1160 | Kate Macpherson | F40 | 1:59:44 | |
1252 | Sarah Fawcett | F50 | 2:05:17 | |
1349 | Christine Anne Farnsworth | F60 | 2:16:23 | |
1429 | Margaret Thompson | F60 | 2:31:37 |
1446 finishers.