My first attempt at a coastal half marathon 2 Saturday’s ago wasn’t quite the scene I had envisaged when I booked it up mid Spring when the sun was enticingly warm and shining!
I had pictured a beautiful rugged scenic route, waves rolling in along the Rhossilli beach and an enjoyable tho’ strenuous jog along the coastal paths…. having time to enjoy the view and recognise ‘this is the life’ of an off road runner.
Ahem….reality check…Hurricane Abigail blowing an angry westerly at 50mph with horizontal rain and sleet to put the icing on the cake, making my 5 layers of clothing and raincoat seem rather pointless against the coastal November climate.
But I got around, 2:44 hrs wading through ankle high mud and deep rainwater with black bogs knee high in places, it made it all rather fun and very interesting and quite entertaining to see other runners being blown over in the wind! Not myself of course as I seemed to be made and built of the more un-blowoverable sturdier solid kind of stuff!!
When I looked at the results only a quarter of the ultra marathoners and half the marathon runners actually finished, highlighting the very tough conditions on the day. I was quite proud that I finished the course even though it took me a very long time.
However, I am looking forward to going back next year and doing it all again, in the sunshine…and attempting to improve my time in the dry. And of course, to look at the beautiful views from an upright angle, not a near horizontal sideways blown angle!!
The joys of running.