The Great West Run is a
half-marathon held annually in Exeter. It’s a pretty big event but funnily
enough doesn’t appear to be a part of the “Great Run” series that includes the
Great North and South runs. The 2016 edition saw a starting field of over 2100
runners, so a nice turnout for a run through and around the city on closed
roads.
This year’s race, sponsored by
Ashfords law firm, was held on Sunday the 16th of October. I got
my place just a few weeks before, thanks to Exeter Tri Club Chairperson AndyWatts, who had been given a couple of free places for offering his time to be
the tail cyclist who accompanied the runners at the back of the race.
My race preparation was, shall we
say, far from ideal: I’d only done three runs in the month leading up to the
GWR due to a chest infection, so was also mid-way through a course of
antibiotics for it and coughing my lungs up before, during, and after the
event. I’d had a week off work sick because of this a fortnight beforehand and
was feeling far from 100%. However, you pay your money (or not if you have a
free place), put your name down, so I really wanted to be at the start line
(and at the finish hopefully). Given my last event up in Oulton Park, I was particularly
keen to do this one.
Several friends from the club
were also running, including Anthony Snow (just recovered from a recent cold),
Simon Parke (awaiting hand surgery), Steve Crowley (GB Paratri Squad and
full-time athlete), Ben Savage (marine and recently returned from racing at
Cozumel for the World Sprint Age Group Triathlon finals), and Charlie Sumner
(fellow tri coach).
I really didn’t know what I’d be
capable of but hoped to come in about 1:30, my original target of 1:25ish long
blown out with the lead up I’d had. I optimistically line up near the front of
the race, alongside Ant and Simon, in the sub-1:30 area in glorious sunshine.
This was a surprise as it had been pouring with rain all night and even up
until about 8:30am.
We set off through the city
centre at 9am I was able to get right into my stride being nearer the front. I
started alongside Simon and Ant, but Ant soon pushed on a little as he was in
better form than me and Simon.
As we made our way down towards
the river and the Exe Bridges, there was a pretty decent crowd out in support
which is always a bonus. My first 5k went fairly well despite a continuous
wheeze and intermittent coughing. Simon did remark that he’d never heard me
breathing like that in all the runs we’d done together- a nice indicator of my
respiratory condition!
Heading out around the Western
edge of the city, the terrain was generally flat with a few little bumps, but
even these were noticeable to me. This was followed by an out and back section
along the lovely Stoke Woods, which was my first opportunity to see the race
leader, GB Elite Squad Duathlete Phil Wylie, who had already opened up a
significant lead as well as Ant (ahead of us), Steve and Ben (a touch behind).
This took us up to about half-way and the pace was fairly satisfactory at about
45minutes.
However, this is where the course
toughened up a bit: at about 8miles we came to the hill at the University. Not
very long, but fairly steep, this one really made you work to keep any kind of
decent pace. Fortunately there were a few supporters as well as a local Street Heat Samba
band, playing their drums and shaking their tassles and bells to help us keep
pushing. Unfortunately this is where my pace started to drop and I soon knew
I’d be going over 1:30. At the top we saw Simon’s partner and children who gave
me the encouraging call of “come on Wai, you’re bringing up the rear!” as I had
dropped 10m behind !
After that we headed back into
the city for the final few miles which were another out and back that dipped
into a long V-shape. My quads were really struggling on the downhill sections,
testament to my reduced mileage over the preceding month, so I really had to
grit my teeth to push through what was a fairly significant level of muscle
pain that I wouldn’t normally expect over this distance.
Here we saw my wife, Beccy, who
had brought Molly and Ginger (our dogs), and our friend Corinne. More shouts of
encouragement were forthcoming: “come on, guys; Anthony’s way ahead”, they
cried. “Don’t worry, we still love you” called Beccy, which was swiftly
followed by Corinne’s “but not that much!” Thanks a million!
The final mile or so was largely
up this incline which was fairly tough. I managed to pull away from Simon in
the last few hundred metres, which he likes to put down to my slightly
less-aged body. I eventually crossed the line in 109th place in 1:31:29,
which I was reasonably satisfied with given my on-going illness and lack of
training. Simon finished a handful of seconds behind me, soon followed by Steve
and Ben. Anthony had gone round in 1:28:46 and had run really well.
It was won by Phil Wylie in a
tasty 1:10:10, almost two minutes ahead of second place (which is over quarter
of a mile at that pace) and I believe he led from start to finish.
All in all this was a nice race
through the lovely city I now call home. It probably wasn’t the sensible thing
to do- running with a chest infection- but it would have been too difficult not
to, with it right on my doorstep and my friends running too. I’m glad I did it,
despite the difficulty I had.
Organisation was very good, with
enthusiastic marshalls and a traffic-free route. We lucked out with the
weather, and this certainly helped swell the number of supporters. The goody
bag had a good high-vis technical t-shirt in it (I should’ve got a small
though) and a race-specific medal, but I didn’t think much of the energy bars.
I would definitely do this race
again, but with any luck fit and well next time out; it would seem silly not to. I’ve now recovered from my chest infection
so can hopefully look forward to some good strength and fitness triathlon
training over the early part of winter, before really focussing on the London
Marathon which I’m lucky enough to be doing next year. I have my target of
sub-3hours (there, I’ve said it) which I think is realistic if tough, so need
to buckle down. So, watch this space…
