Rain, rain, rain – oh and some pretty strong blasts of wind! Unfortunately, that pretty much sums up the Lake Vrynwy Half Marathon for this year.
I had been recommended this race by a number of people as a scenic, fast half around an attractive Welsh lake so was hoping for a PB, however, this was not to be the case. Wet through before we started, I set off too quickly, desperate to warm up but even though I quickly slowed to an 8-min per mile pace after a couple of miles, I found that with the wind and the rain, I just couldn’t maintain anything near that and was really struggling around 7/8 miles when we turned into the wind at the top of the lake. Fortunately, the trees provided some measure of protection but, for me anyway, it became a battle just to finish and even the last mile downhill felt like hard work. I actually longed for more undulation just to break up the consistent pounding on my hips and knees!! I shuffled in finally in 1:48:15. Crispin Marriott (as the only other Croft runner – although I apologize if I have missed anyone off the list) fared much better. This was only his second half marathon and he was delighted to knock over two minutes off his time, gaining a PB in a very respectable 1:55:42.
Oh well, I am sure the sun will shine next year and we will see some scenery!
Both winners- male, Ben Fish (1:08:05) and female, Claire Martin (1:19:33) were a long way off the course record of 1:02:14 and 1:12:05 but probably not surprising given the conditions.