If Carlsberg Did Weekends - Middlesbrough Half Marathon Race Report

 From the glamour of Dubai it was a bump back down to earth at the Middlesbrough half marathon this weekend.  Or so you might think.  I had a brilliant time in the north-east, heading up on Friday night to stay with my mother-in law for the weekend.  Jan (mother-in-law) and River (the dog) were waiting up for me when I arrived at just after 9pm.  I had a catch-up with Jan, and cuddles (with River) before heading to bed.  

Eight hours of uninteruppted, childfree sleep later I woke up refreshed Saturday morning.  I opted to skip the parkrun, and go out for a gentle 7km run, leaving the intensity for Sunday's race.  Jan and I then went to Jean and Rick's for tea, cake and chat.  We spent a very pleasant hour there before heading home for lunch and one of the famous pies from Petch's.  It was then into the car to the beach at Skinningrove for a walk.  River made himself some new friends and we enjoyed the sea air and some sun.  We got very lucky with the weather, as soon as we got home it began to rain.

The day finished with a trip to the Royal Oak in the village for dinner with Jan, Daniel (Brother-in-law), Tori (Sister-in-law) and Roman (nephew) he was at his super smilie best.  Against all dietary advice I opted for a full Hot Shot Parmo.  Jalapneos, Chilli flakes and pepperoni all washed down with a Birra Moretti.  The pre-race dinner of champions.

A solid seven hours of rest and recovery Saturday night, I got ready for the race in peace.  Driving myself to Dan's who had kindly offered to drop me off near the start.  That all worked really smoothly and I was at the start village by 08:15 ready for the 09:00 race.  It was a little fresh when waiting to start, my garmin would later tell me it was 7 degrees but with the wind chill it felt like 0.  Once you got moving though it was perfect, very different from the 19 degrees and high humdity of Dubai a couple of weeks earlier.  Short loo queue, room to warm-up comfortably, 3,500 runners so not too busy, estimated finish time seedings that worked.  Great North Run? No thanks, give me the Middlesbrough Half Marathon everday.

Running, like almost everything in life is all about the gap between your expectation of something and the result.  For this race my confidence was starting to falter, I had been tired on runs, struggling to hit target times on effort sessions, all that hard work, was my fitness fading?  I was a bit lost on a time to target, sub 1:50, 1:45 as the stretch target.  1:50 is 5:12 km's and so I had that in mind when I positioned myself just in front of the 1:50 sign ready for the off.

The course was busy and you had to be wary of those around you, but it was definitely more spacious than Dubai.  I like to try and find myself some room, I was thinking about it during the race, ideally I am aiming for something the size of an Atlasphere from Gladiators.  In this race that was achievable for much of it, but I will have to adjust my target at the London Marathon next month, maybe the size of a hamster ball could be achievable.

I felt strong from the off, moving through the field, cautious not to trip over others, or be tripped.  Here are the splits from the first 5km:

• 1km - 4:58
• 2km - 5:04
• 3km - 4:53
• 4km - 4:58
• 5km - 4:51

Total 24:44

That 5:12 pace looked overly cautious.  I was running comfortably, my heart-rate was steady, creeping up to 162 BPM by kilometre 5 but it was in the zone.  The course was very flat, there were some minor inclines early on but nothing substantial.  1:45 is 5 minute km's and that started to come into my mind, I was feeling good.

The second 5km looked like this:

• 6km - 4:49
• 7km - 4:46
• 8km - 4:45
• 9km - 4:48
• 10km - 4:44

Total 23:52

Life was good in this section, 1:50 was now way in the rear-view mirror.  There was always the possibility I could explode, but the heartrate was holding steady in the early 160 BPM.  I was keen to get to 11km and then we could start counting down the second-half.  The crowds were good, there were definitely quiet spots on the route, particularly in the port section later on in the race, but I am happy just working away.  I did spot a great one two punch of a sign that two women had, "Go Hard" followed by her friends sign "That's what she said." With a picture of Steve Carell from the American Office.  That is my level.

The third section splits were:

• 11km - 4:40
• 12km - 4:41
• 13km - 4:43
• 14km - 4:47
• 15km - 4:51

Total 23:42

This was my I got over excitable section.  I was feeling strong and wanted to really push things on.  I attacked a short climb over a bridge a little too hard and my HR hit 170 plus, by the end of km 15 my HR was now averaging 168.  I felt sub 1:45 was well on, but there wasn't anything else to particuarly target time wise, just get it done as fast as you can and don't blow up.

The fourth section

• 16km - 4:56
• 17km - 4:50
• 18km - 4:51
• 19km - 4:54
• 20km - 4:56

Total 24:27

It was holding it together at this stage.  I had been comfortable throughout almost all of the first three quarters but this final section stung.  The drummers were a nice little pick me up and we got two bites at them with the looped nature of the route.  My pace drops by about 10 seconds a km in this section but I felt as long as I was in and around 5 minutes a km I could bring it home in a time I would be pleased with.

The finish:

• 21km - 4:42
• 400m - 1:44

Throughout the race the race signs were coming earlier than my Garmin splits, so my biggest concern was the course was going to be short, in the event the end was really long.  My Garmin was telling me I was done with the finish line still some 200 metres in the distance.  I was shattered and about ready to pull over and call it a day.  I pushed and pushed for the line, willing it to me.  Finally getting over the line in 1:43:12 I have it measuring at 13.30 miles with me crossing the half marathon at 1:41:42 but we will go with the official time of 1:43:09.

I got my medal, a bottle of water, some Haribos, ginger biscuits and some Volatrol.  A very useful little stash.  I got myself to Mcdonald's and the agreed pick up with Jan at 11am, I skipped Mcdonald's opting instead for brunch back at Jan's.  Full of bacon, sausage, french toast, beans and tea I drove the four hours home to Essex with a huge grin on my face.

Since running 1:41:55 at the Southend Half Marathon in June 2015 I had done 10 half marathon's with times varying from 1:47 to 2:44, so this weekend's 1:43 is my fastest half marathon in 11 years, and was also a minute a mile faster than my 1:57 ran at Basildon in September last year.  We keep this momentum up through to the autumn and Basildon 2026 and I will look to go sub 1:40 or better there.  For now I will enjoy the after glow from the Middlesbrough half marathon weekend.  

Burj2Burj 2026 - Race Report

 We are now two weeks on from the Burj2Burj, the half marathon in Dubai.  I had booked this back in May last year, a good excuse to see friends Amy and Col and their two daughters.  It was also a nice bit of warm weather training in the middle of my London Marathon training block.  

I flew to Dubai Thursday night and arrived 7 hours later, 11 hours later with the time difference at 7 o'clock in the morning Friday.  Col was there to pick me up and we caught up, before I left him to get some work done whilst I went for a 5 mile run to get acclimatised.  Running in 24 degree heat mid-morning was a big change from the 2 degrees, wet, windy runs that had been my staple diet in recent months.  I was pleased to get it done so soon after the flight and having only grabbed 90 minutes sleep on the plane.

I then got to enjoy the weekend with the Rowlings family, a beer at an Irish bar, followed by a Friday night curry, then up early for the girls football tournaments.  I fully immersed myself in proceedings, and we debriefed at the golf club after the tournament over a couple of pints in the sun.  I then got out for a 5km run,  this time with the temperature at 28 degrees in the heat of the day.  Amy and I also picked up our number from the expo enjoying a Corona Cero before picking the girls up from a party.  The day ended with a BBQ and something of an early night, the race start was half 6 and our taxi was booked for 5am.

I got up at half 4, but time soon evaporated.  I move slower at that time of the morning/night but Amy and I were kitted out and ready to go when the taxi arrived.  Col and the girls would see us at the finish around half 8 in the morning.

We got to the start in plenty of time and tried to get our bearings.  There was a good hype man at the start, offering us a drink if we broke the half marathon world record, and putting forward the offer of a Lamborghini from his colleague.  I'm not sure it was a legally binding offer, but I was confident we wouldn't be collecting.

There wasn't a great deal to do at the start and so Amy and I got ourselves into position early.  I was about 2 stone heavy and considerably slower when I signed up for the race and so had on a pink 2:15 bib, Amy and I were now targeting a 2 hour time.  There was some effort to get people into their correct pens but it didn't work at all, the paid security might as well have had the morning off for all the good they did.  By the time we eventually got over the start line at 6:45 it was a real fruit salad of bib colours, pinks and oranges and greens.  

The race started on a wide road that was able to accommodate the large number of runners.  The organisers proudly announced that this year's entrants were a record 15,000 runners, 5,000 more than last year.  Money talks but I think they may have gotten a little greedy, as there was congestion on the course at points.

As I said, our target time for the race was 1:59:59 so around 5:40 a km.  I was hopeful that I was in 1:45-1:50 half marathon shape and so would be strong enough to help Amy along.  As it was our 2 hour target was about right for me in the Dubai heat.  19 degrees and 85% humidity meant my shirt was soaked through after 8km or so and it remained that way for the rest of the run.

I will split our race up into quarters.  Here are the first 5km splits:

6:05, 5:37, 5:30, 5:30, 5:42 = 28:24

The initial km was a slow one with all of the crowds, I was surprised how quick it was.  At points I thought we were going to run a 7 minute km so bad was the traffic, but just over 6 minutes was perfect.  Amy and I were running relaxed and working our way through the crowds.  Amy had those 5:40 splits in her head and although there were a couple of slightly quicker splits early, she ran to that pace beautifully.  I barely looked at my watch and we just slipped into a rhythm.  

5:40, 5:35, 5:35, 5:39, 5:39 = 28:08

The second 5km was when the road narrowed.  Where we had initially got a nice wide motorway it was now split over both carriages, but keeping a lane open either side so cars could still use it.  It definitely felt a little dicey when running by the cones on the edge, and it wasn't always possible to run stride for stride with Amy due to the crowds.  I found myself on the other side of the road and had to leap some roadside foliage but successfully landed the jump without injury.  

5:38, 5:44, 5:48, 5:48, 5:48 = 28:46

We had now got away from the narrower lanes and were on one straight road to the finish.  This course is not interesting or scenic.  It is a get it done kind of course.  The one positive was the road was slightly wider and so gave us more room, you did still feel pushed along by the other runners, it never really thinned out.  The crowds at the side of the road were ok, far from wall to wall but there were good numbers out.  Lots of signs referring to brunches missed and the early start.

Amy had said her legs were struggling from 10km and she did really well managing her efforts throughout.  In this stage she just asked to take the pace down 10 seconds a km or so.  By the end of the 15th km we were just a touch ahead of 2 hour pace but I could feel we were in manage it territory and so the sub 2 hours would probably escape us.

6:01, 6:17, 6:18, 6:07, 6:21, 5:55 and 1:19 (final bit).

It was in this last 5km where we had our first walk breaks. How Amy kept them to just 90 seconds total I do not know.  When I am on my own and decide I am cooked and need a walk I can hemorrhage time.  It would just be a little 10-15 seconds to stretch it out, get the heart rate down a touch and then getting going again.  It was during this period I made myself useful and got Amy some orange.  She was running with a CamelBak and so didn't need any liquids at the aid stations.  

We saw Col and the girls approaching the finish and that was a nice cheer to get us to the line.  There was a right hand turn and so the finish line only came into sight at the very end.  Our hard earned medals were received and we then found Col and the girls.  Some quick sweaty cuddles and it was onto the next thing.  A Mcdonald's breakfast at 9am, one of the joys of the early start.  Then into the car and a race across town for some more girls football watching.

The girls had play dates with friends and so Amy, Col and I headed for a beautiful roast in the sun at Joe's Backyard.  The day didn't end there though, I decided in my wisdom to get a taxi booked for 2:30 in the morning to get me to the pub for the start of the Superbowl at 3:30 am Monday morning Dubai time.  I had a few beers and some food watching a rather uninspiring Superbowl and decided to cut it short at 7am with half of the fourth quarter remaining and the result beyond doubt.

I managed to run Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to end the holiday.  Nothing too quick or too long but it was good to keep up the momentum.  A massage on Tuesday evening helped to relieve the post race aches and pains.  

The race itself might not have been the most beautiful or inspired race, but it is always a pleasure to run with Amy and it gave me a great excuse to come and share an incredible five days with the Rowling's family.  Same again in 2027?

A Brutal Benfleet 15 - 2026

 I completed the Benfleet 15 this Sunday, a popular and infamous 15 mile off-road race.  The weather had been wet in the lead up to it and so the trademark mud was there in a big way.  The weather on the day was actually near perfect.  I had run this race three times previously, but only once on the new course, way back in 2017.  Then, I had completed it in 2:17.30 and felt I was in good shape to get close to that.  The reality was I was way off it.

Perhaps I had been too ambitious from the get-go.  I ran the Rudolph Run, a local 5 mile race in December and completed that in 37:01, I also ran this the December prior to my 2:17 in a time of 35:08.  Lots of different things to factor in there, but 2 minutes slower x 3 for the distance gets you to 6 minutes, maybe add another couple of minutes because it is hilly and a mudfest, I could maybe justify 2:25, my final time was 2:31.  Six minutes for mental fortitude lacking? Yeah I can see that maths.

I have gone over the numbers, both mile splits and km splits between 2017 and 2026, used various run websites and apps to try and piece together the race that was.

I met my friend Charlotte before the race and we had a good catch-up and ended up starting the race together.  We were a little far back, I didn't want to be right at the front with those throwing themselves down the big hill to start, but we definitely lost 30-40 seconds in the initial flurry as we tried to negotiate the traffic.  At one point early on the cattle grid was closed and so we all had to funnel through a small gate to the side where more time was lost.  The less said about the queue jumping guy in black the better.

After the big downhill start we were greeted with our first uphill of the day, there would be plenty more throughout the course.  Five or six if I were counting.  Steep enough that even at my moderately fit status I needed to walk them.  There was some congestion here too, and it was difficult to get into a rhythm with everyone having slightly different approaches to pacing themselves.  

I regretted entering the race at this point, what must have been half a mile in.  As I said I had done the race before, but I think your mind blocks out the worst bits for self preservation.  There were parts of the course that came back to me and felt familiar but there was none of that over the first 3 miles.  Through 3 miles I was about a minute down on 2017, I could put most of that down to the congested start.

The first big chunk of time I lost was in km 7, I did 6:52 compared to 5:10 in 2017.  I can't quite piece together what went wrong there, this was over the serious mudfest section.  That was a brutal couple of miles, sliding this way and that.  Walking was harder than running.  Once through that we popped out at Leigh-station, there were good crowds there, then it was onto paths along the coastline.  I think I got a touch overexcited in this section.  The surer footing made moving so much easier and perhaps I put in too much effort.  There was a 5km section in here where I was 15 seconds up on 2017.

I got to 10km about 3 minutes down on 2017 (I didn't know any of these splits at the time), there was the initial 1 minute lost plus 2 minutes in that funky 7th km, but aside from that it was fairly even.  We hit the marina at mile 8 and it was at that point, just over halfway that I knew it was going to be a slog.

It was out on the long stretch along the sea wall at Canvey.  There were runners as far as the eye could see, and the fast ones at the front were already coming back the other way.  I didn't mind the seemingly never ending trip out, the more miles we were getting in the bank now, meant less miles in the mud or on the big uphills to the finish.  It was in this section where I did begin to flag and showed some mental weakness.  There are lots of very valid sections of this race where you can walk at my fitness level.  The big hilly sections, or some of the tricky to negotiate mud sections, but on the flat, breeze in your face or on your back, you need to be running and for parts of this I did stop for the occasional walk break.  Anyone that has had walk breaks knows when you start, it is a very hard habit to break.

I got up to maybe mile 11 when I was passed by Charlotte, who had done a much better job of pacing her race than me.  I managed to keep her in sight for quite a while, we got off the sea wall and went up past Benfleet station, up an insane hill, kudos to any commuters who get up that every evening.  Past the aid station, which was no help to me.  They have a no plastic policy, insisting you bring your own beverage holder.  I had paid £2 extra on entry for a reusable cup, but didn't bother picking it up, I didn't want to run 15 miles, cup in hand.  It was cool enough and short enough that it probably didn't affect my performance much if at all.

I again lost some time in these final miles, there was some downhill to take advantage of and some flat, but my legs were shredded and my spirits dampened by this point and so I will have haemorrhaged more time than was strictly necessary.  There was still time for some more uphill before the big finish.  There was a zigzag section where everyone was walking, only beginning to run again on the final zig or is it zag as the gradient eased a little.

There was then just the final hill to climb, I think I ran the entire thing in 2017 but I didn't have it in me.  A good march to the top was all I could muster.  Once there I saw Charlotte and she encouraged me to get running.  The threat of "I'm filming you all the way to the finish" was sufficient to keep my legs moving all the way to the line.  My legs really didn't feel my own for that final 150 metres.

Charlotte and I then met up for a post-race debrief, reliving the various hills and mud, which was a nice way to end our mornings work.  The event is epic and isn't very conducive to time goals, but time goals is what I had and so I am left disappointed and concerned for exactly what kind of shape I am in.  My watch has been telling me bad news for the last week or ten days and so maybe there is some illness lurking in the background.  

My body is aching two days after the event, particularly lower back, but there are two or three other body parties also crying out for attention, I have just managed to complete a 5.5km recovery run, get back on the horse and all that.  I have the Middlesbrough half marathon 1st March, on the road, and that should give me a much better gauge of exactly what sort of shape I am in over the longer distance, and whether a push for a marathon PB at London is realistic.  I'll dust myself off, or rather deep clean and pick the matted mud out of my hair and go again.  Benfleet 15 you may have beaten me this year, but next year I'll get my revenge.

P.S I also saw Roman who I had met at HARP 24, both before and after the race.  He monstered it in 1:55 getting himself a silver medal in the process.  What a nice chap he is.