Southend Half Marathon 2026 - Race Report

I had a near perfect morning at the Southend Half Marathon on Sunday morning. This was the 30th anniversary of the event and my 9th time completing it. I did also have a failed attempt in 2023 when I blew up in spectacular fashion and trudged back to the car after 5 miles. This year it was a far happier story. It is a great local race and it never fails to deliver a sunny and warm morning. Thankfully it wasn't boiling hot this year, my Strava tells me it was 15 degrees. It definitely felt warmer than that to me, but it was far from the 24-25 degrees that it can be, and I was grateful for the lower temperatures and the occasional cloud cover we received. Lauren was in charge of taking the girls to and from dancing this morning and so that allowed me to enjoy the race worry free. I left the house at 7am and it meant I arrived at the start by half 7, an hour and a half before the off and even then there was still a short queue for the carpark. I was then able to relax, enjoying some time on a bench looking out to sea, some trips to the portaloos before the masses arrived, a protein bar and some water, it was a lovely calm and stressfree build-up, a marked difference from my London Marathon experience. I skipped the formal warm-up, infact I skipped any form of warm-up and was caught lounging on the grass five minutes before the start by a fellow runner who commented on how relaxed I looked and he wasn't wrong. I dragged myself off the floor and got myself to the start. The organisers had staggered the starts, first the wheelchair athletes, then the sub 1:30 runners then the rest of us. I positioned myself near the front of the rest of us. I was targeting sub 1:40 and so couldn't in good conscience go in the sub 1:30 wave. I almost regretted that decision because when we did start the course was all very narrow and I was going frustratingly slow for the first couple of hundred metres. My Garmin has me doing 9:30 miles and my average for the race was more like 7:30 miles. It quickly settled down and as the roads widened I was able to get into my running properly. I think I might have over compensated somewhat as my Garmin beeped through the first km in 4:36 which was 10 seconds faster than my target of 4:45, 4:45 for the race would get me in and around that 1:40 target. The first few km's are on small roads as we wind our way to the seafront, there were some speed bumps to negotiate along with some tight turns, it's a gentle downhill, on fresh legs those km's go by in a flash. Once on the flat of the seafront we had our first water station and I fail spectacularly, the water was in big paper cups and I went to grab it and muffed it, the cup hit the floor. After that I slowed almost to a stop for half a second to ensure safe receipt of the cup before getting going again. It wasn't ideal but I knew I needed to get the water onboard. I didn't bring any gels or nutrition with me, so it was just H2O all the way for me. The km's were getting ticked off in short order and the splits were staying very consistent. 1km - 4:36 2km - 4:33 3km - 4:30 4km - 4:35 5km - 4:36 First 5km in 22:50 I was aware that I was going faster than the planned pace but the effort felt manageable and so I just went with it. The race has lots going for it, it's local, the weather, it's flat and the crowds are good. One of the small downsides is the course is pretty samey being a two-loop run of the seafront. That familiarity does mean that you know exactly what is coming up and it allows you to measure your efforts. The lack of gradient also helps with this. The one variable that can impact your pacing is the wind and Strava said that was about 10mph, I don't know if others struggle with this, but I can't for the life of me tell if I am wind assisted or wind against at that wind speed. I was settling into a good rhythm and for such a crowded race I remarkably found myself in lots of space which suits me beautifully. The water stations were plentiful and I was taking water onboard at almost every one and my pick-up and drinking technique was improving with each one. The km's were passing at a good clip and the pace stayed consistent throughout the second quarter of the race. 6km - 4:34 7km - 4:33 8km - 4:34 9km - 4:27 10km - 4:30 Second 5km in 22:38 With no music and not much else to keep my mind busy, it does give you time to contemplate just how far there is left to go. I remember seeing my watch tick over to 40 minutes and I thought I've still got an hour to go. With the looped nature of the course you are also seeing future mile markers before you reach them, with mile 2 and mile 7 markers close to each other. I thought about that 7 mile marker alot! In my heart I think I knew I had gone out a little too fast and I was going to be hanging on in the second half and so it proved. 11km - 4:38 12km - 4:48 13km - 4:46 14km - 4:44 15km - 4:44 Third 5 km in 23:40 That 11th km is almost the transitional km of the race. The first 10km at 4:30 - 4:35 km's the second 10km at 4:45 and this 11th km at 4:38 being an inbetweenie. It was my slowest km of the race thus far. I think it was a conscious effort to slow myself down, I wanted a managed decline and not an explosion. After that km I found my new rhythm of 4:45 per km. I am amazed how consistent I was able to keep the pace as I really began to suffer. Running isn't pain, you have to do it for too long to be painful, but it is definitely sustained discomfort and suffering. That's a T-shirt slogan right there. The fourth and final quarter was light on discomfort and heavy on suffering. 16km - 4:45 17km - 4:42 18km - 4:46 19km - 4:48 20km - 4:42 Fourth 5km in 23:43 You have the only slight incline on the course as you come off the seafront just before 11 miles. 3.5km to go it should be the push to the finish, I made it to the top of the hill and my HR will have been 180+ at that point. I then tried to recover on the flat without much success. It was a slog to the finish from here. The runners really had thinned out at this point. On the seafront running at the pace I did you would see both the leaders and the back markers and with the looped course it was always bustling. Now we were on the residential roads heading for the finish it was a much quieter and lonelier experience, both in terms of runners and spectators. We were now really close to home as we hit the section that makes up part of the Southend parkrun, I was flagging big time, the thought of walking was constantly on my mind. I kept pushing on, and then there was a minor upslope with 800m to go and I stopped and walked! You mad man. The three or four runners who passed me all encouraged me on, after 10 or 15 seconds I sorted myself out and got moving and I was moving well. Then we were into the crowds for the finish and I started to shift through the gears, making a big push for the line. The Garmin stopped and it was mercifully over, 1:38:08 was the official time. Nearly 2 minutes quicker than my target, it could have been a 1:36 if I had sustained that early pace but I think 1:38 was all I really had today however I would have paced it. The 21st km was 4:46 even with the walk break, then a 33 second surge for the line at 6 minutes per mile. The 1:38 was five minutes faster than my time at Middlesbrough in March. It was my fastest half marathon since a 1:35 at Great Bentley in 2015. It my 8th fastest half marathon all time, 2011 was a good year for me as they take my top five times. In terms of WAVA it is third, only behind the Great North Run in 2011 - 1:30:05 and the Southend Half in 2011 of 1:32:09. I will keep working away, and see where this takes us. To get into PB territory over the half marathon I am going to need to lose another 23 seconds a km or so which is enormous but I'm trending in the right direction and I'm enjoying it despite the discomfort and the suffering. See you next year Southend for a 10th time.

What is Required to Run a Marathon - The 3 to 4 Hour Edition

We are now nearly a week post marathon.  I have managed to get out for three runs, my body is letting me know that I am still getting over that big effort.  The half hour of walking over the final 10 miles at London has saved my legs somewhat but I still need to be cautious over the next couple of weeks.  Having said that I am provisionally booked for the Chester Marathon on the 11th October.  Lauren and I are still in negotiations, but I am confident I can get that one over the line.

I have got myself a 24 week plan on Runna to get me through to the Chester Marathon in tip top shape, with the Basildon HM on the 13th September being a B race for me.  Before I look at what that plan looks like I first want to explore what is required to run a four hour marathon all the way through to a three hour marathon.  For this I have taken a look at some of the great analysis tools from www.fetcheveryone.com based on the 16 weeks prior to the marathon.

											Total	Avg
Time	Runs/Wk	Miles/Wk	Avg Pace	LR 1	LR 2	LR 3	LR 4	LR 5	LR 6		LR Miles	LR
Me	4.2	29.4	8:41	20.2	15.5	15.5	15.1	13.3	13.2		92.8	15.47
4:00	3.7	30	9:23	22.1	20	19.3	17.1	15.1	14		107.6	17.93
3:45	4.1	35.4	8:49	21	20	20	18.1	17	15.3		111.4	18.57
3:30	4.6	38.8	8:37	22.1	20.4	20	18.9	18	16.1		115.5	19.25
3:15	4.6	42	8:11	22.3	21.1	20.1	20	18.6	17.3		119.4	19.90
3:00	5.3	51.4	7:43	23	21.7	20.5	20.1	20	19		124.3	20.72

I hope that table displays correctly.  It shows my 4:04 London Marathon having been run after I trained for an average of 30 miles a week over 4 runs a week.  The average pace wasn't a target but I thought made for some interesting comparisons.  The stand out that was lacking for me were those long runs.  The 20 miles at the Essex 20 being my only really long run.  3 runs of 15 miles or so and a couple of half marathon distance runs.  

The 84 matches for those running 4 hours had them achieving a similar weekly mileage to me but with half a run a week less.  Illustrating that those other 84 runners went further when they went out then I did.  My average pace was also over 40 seconds a mile quicker than them, I think that is a sign I can go much faster than the 4:04 I achieved.  The big difference being those long runs.  The variance between me and the 4 hour runners isn't quite as large as I was expecting but it was interesting to see that they got as far as 22 miles on their longest run.  Then it is a 19 miler and a 17 miler that I was lacking.

Where I want to be is in the 3:30 - 3:45 club.  4 to 4.5 runs and 35-40 miles a week both look achievable.  The bigger numbers required of 5 runs and 50 miles a week for those stretch targets down the track can wait for 2027 and beyond.

As I said the Runna plan is for 24 weeks rather than the 16 weeks we are looking at here.  It has me averaging 58km or 36 miles a week over the 24 weeks, and with the first 8 weeks easing you in somewhat those averages will likely be higher for the 16 weeks.  When I put together my plan with Runna I tasked them with four runs a week, and just one harder session rather than the two I had for London.  In terms of those key long runs it has given me a longest run of 34km  (21 miles), 2 x 32km (20 miles), 30km (19 miles), 28km (17.5 miles) and 26km (16 miles).

I have 21 weeks of 4 runs, 3 runs for this week beginning on Thursday, 3 runs the week of the Basildon Half Marathon and 3 runs in race week including the marathon itself for a total of 93 runs.  I think I might find 7 other opportunities for some short (5-8km) easy runs to make it to a nice even 100 but I won't lose sleep if those bonus runs aren't met.

If I can apply myself to all 93 of those runs a marathon PB will be achieved and ideally a sub 3:30 marathon.  Wouldn't that be a story to tell. 24 weeks of hard graft starts here.

London Marathon 2026 - You Get the Result You Deserve

The start to my London race morning didn't go quite as I would have wished.  I set off for the station after having a shake and a cup of tea, leaving Lauren and the girls to have breakfast at the Premier Inn.  I have an enlarged prostate which I don't take medication for (I should), most of the time it is manageable but a long tube trip lacking in toilet facilities, pre-race nerves and some over-hydration meant I was desperately hunting for toilet facilities after one tube stop, running up the escalator at 7:30 wasn't ideal.  

That dealt with, I returned to the platform and got on a much quieter tube and arrived at Greenwich DLR in plenty of time. The main start zone was red, but I was heading to pink, I had ambitiously put 3:30 as my target upon signing up and that got me in pink wave 4.  Pink was full of relatively quick people and was small, which made the pre-race less stressful but also meant the start lacked some of the big race buzz that I think the red start would have had.

I set off at 9:52 as scheduled, it was a lovely low key start.  I'm not sure how many runners there were in pink wave 4 but it didn't feel like many.  There were lots of speed bumps in the opening km or so, but the marshalls at each hump/bump were enthusiastically pointing these out to us, with some hump innuendo thrown in to good effect.  To continue the theme of the morning I needed the loo almost immediately and took advantage of the portaloos just before 2km.  That was a 30 second investment, but it was good to be comfortable and get into my running properly from there.

Over the course of the race my Garmin got 500m or so ahead of the official measurement.  It is London so I am happy the course isn't long, this was just a case of high buildings/tunnels mucking up the signal.  I saw most of the km markers, so maybe if I ever return I will manually split at each km rather than rely on the autolap.  The first five km's were as follows:

• 5:11
• 5:51 (30-40 sec loo stop)
• 5:07
• 5:06
• 4:55

Total time of 26:09 - Official 5km split 26:28 - Avg HR 149.

I felt comfortable, the sun was out but the heat wasn't there.  The crowds were good and the roads were the clearest they would be all day.  It was maybe after this 5km that we joined up with some of the other starts, but don't hold me to that.

The next 5km were the fastest of the race for me:

• 4:57
• 4:58
• 5:00
• 4:59
• 4:59

5km Garmin split of 24:52 and a total time of 51:01 - Official 10km split 51:44 - Avg HR 160

Geez I only finished the race this afternoon and the memories are leaving my head already.  This section was good, I was enjoying myself.  I know it is difficult to believe when we see where this race goes, but it did genuinely feel an appropriate effort level.  The splits are in a very tight band, the HR is ok.  I guess expecting to be able to hold 160 BPM for another three hours is ambitious even if we believe that I naturally have quite a high HR when exercising.

The third 5km splits were:

• 4:56
• 5:01
• 5:04
• 5:04
• 5:02

5km Garmin split of 25:07 and a total time of 1:16:08 - Official 15km split 1:17:39 - Avg HR 164

The gap between the Garmin and the official splits goes out big in this section.  From 43 seconds different in 10km it increases to 1 minute 31 seconds after 15km.  It was at this point when I was seeing a whole load of low 5 minute km's (I missed the big 2nd km split) that I started to dream, maybe just maybe I could PB this thing.  Pre-race I thought there was a 20% chance I could PB, but now with a bounce in my step and the race effort fogging my brain that number was increasing to 30% plus.   I think if I had registered that gap between my splits and the official splits I might have reined it in a little, but maybe not.

I had hoped to see Lauren and the girls just after 10km by the Cutty Sark but they had some issues with pushy spectators and a runner in distress near where they were standing and so we missed each other.  I messaged once I was past the Cutty Sark to let them know so they could move onto the next spot.

The fourth 5km splits were:

• 5:04
• 5:06
• 4:59
• 5:02
• 5:00

5km Garmin split of 25:11 and a total time of 1:41:20 - Official 20km split 1:42:47 - Avg HR 164

That difference between the Garmin and the official splits essentially remained the same through that 5km.

No sooner had I had made the decision that it was PB or blow-up, that I had this five km.  The splits and HR are both very similar from that 10km-15km section, but it felt harder.  The difficulty with London is you get swept along by the cheering crowds, but more importantly by the flow of runners.  It is very difficult not to get caught up by the pace of those around you even if it is 5 or 10 seconds a km too fast for you.

The fifth 5km splits were:

• 4:58
• 5:06
• 5:11
• 5:09
• 5:39 (walk breaks begin)

5km Garmin split of 26:03 and a total time of 2:07:23 - Official 25km split 2:09:10 - Avg HR 167

The average HR for the section of 167 and that is enough to break me.  Walking in the 25th km means a slog for 17km.  It is one of those maths equations, if you can just push that out, make it to 30km make it to 32km, then we have 10km of slog, an hour maybe 70 minutes of torturous run/walk grit your teeth and make the best of it.  17km now we are talking nearly two hours of this silly dance and the best bit is you get to do it in front of tens of thousands of very vocal and enthusiastic spectators wanting you to put on a show.  It is a very public, very humbling suffering.  Totally self inflicted on my part, a lack of long runs and poor pacing choices on the day, but painful none the less.

I went over Tower Bridge just before halfway and this was the spot to look out for Luke and Amber and the boys.  I had just finished texting I am over Tower Bridge thinking I had missed them when I spotted them and managed to shout Amber as I ran past and I was greeted with a loud cheer from them all.  After the race Luke said I looked strong at that point, but it was 3km later that I succumbed to that first walk break.

The sixth 5km splits were:

• 6:09
• 6:13
• 6:38
• 6:18
• 5:57

5km Garmin split of 31:15 and a total time of 2:38:38 - Official 30km split 2:41:35 - Avg HR 157

I couldn't work out why the official splits looked ok.  My blow-up definitely felt worse than they were indicating.  That is because I thought the average pace I was looking at was for the 5km section, but in fact it was your race average and so the drop off wasn't as severe.  

I don't want to spoil the ending with us still having 12 agonising km to cover but by the end of the race I would have run for three and a half hours, walked for 33 and a half minutes and spent a minute standing still.  When I was running I was really running, not shuffling, averaging 8:37 minute miles (5:21 min/km).  I just needed those walk breaks to get my HR down and to get myself safely to the end.

It will have been in this section that I saw Lauren and the girls along with our surprise guest, Amy from Dubai! I knew she was over, but thought she had family commitments and so wouldn't be coming to watch.  What a lovely pick me up that was to see all four of them as I was slogging my way through that endless run/walk cycle.

My brain really was mush at this point, I feared I could be on for 4 hours and 40 minutes plus at one stage.  That was probably worst case if I walked it in with no running, but there was also just some bad maths in there as well.

I reluctantly left my supporters and continued on my journey to the finish, my medal and a well earned sit down.

I think we can mash together the next two 5km sections, we were fully in the pain cave throughout:

• 6:51
• 7:37
• 7:19
• 6:47
• 6:14
• 6:19
• 6:47
• 6:34
• 6:47
• 6:47

Garmin splits of 34:48 and 33:15 and total time of 3:13:26 and 3:46:41. Official splits of 3:16:46 and 3:50:33.  HR now down to 146 and 149 thanks to the walking.

One of the risks of running and particularly with marathons is the threat of collapse.  Whether that is the heat, a pacing issue, an underlying health condition, being undertrained or one of a myriad other reasons.  I saw a lot of runners in distress today, and to my memory they were all men.  I hope all of them were ok and made it home safe to their families.  

I can see how it happens, there were times late on where I felt myself trying to push it, no great pace but just running further than I should before my next walk break.  I was keen to get the race completed as quickly as possible and would have liked to have gone sub 4 hours, with proper pacing I definitely should have.  But in that final hour I pulled back at several moments, the risk of being one of those runners needing medical attention far out weighed the reward of going sub 4 hours.

In the end I finished in a time of exactly 4 hours and 4 minutes.  Finishing with splits of 6:19 and 6:20.  Along with a final garmin section of 0.53 miles in 4:44.  I went through the sign saying 385 yards to go and still found time for one final walk break.  It meant that I could run strong down that final finishing straight.

I received my beautiful and weighty medal, some water and Lucozade and found my support crew.  Hugs were given and received, photos taken and race stories exchanged.  We then headed to the pub for lunch before the train home.  What a day!

The London Marathon gave me everything I expected.  The crowds were incredible, there really was no let up.  I was in my own little world and so maybe I missed some of the landmarks, but I definitely got the Cutty Sark, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  I expected the crowds of runners, but walking was difficult and I felt very much in the way when I was doing it. I am very grateful for having got my place in the ballot and experienced one of those bucket list races.  I have done so many races and the average person really isn't too interested, but the London Marathon is the exception, so many people wished me well and tracked my progress.  

I have entered the ballot for 2027 and will likely do so every year whilst I continue to run, I hope I return and get to run the whole thing and really do myself justice but it won't break my heart if I don't.  Me and marathons don't really get on and particularly not big city marathons.  10km and half marathons you can hurt yourself early and throughout, marathons are a game of delaying the pain, putting the handbrake on, the race doesn't start till the final 10k and that isn't really a bit of me.  

It would have been really handy if Pheidippides had run a full effort 10km before collapsing and dying rather than the 26.2 miles between Marathon and Athens.

My marathon PB was set at Chester way back in October 2011, that was a quiet marathon out on country lanes for much of it, like the Shakespeare Marathon that I have enjoyed on a number of occasions.  It is those types of races where I feel most relaxed and run best, and hope to PB in the not too distant future.  It isn't a criticism of London and other big city marathons, they just don't suit me as well.

One advantage of run/walking that final 17 kms is that my legs should recover a lot quicker.  I am giving blood on Friday and so I will have a gentle week or 10 days post race before getting back into my running again.  I have a series of 10km and half marathon races over the next few months and I will hopefully find a marathon to target this autumn.  We go again, the marathon distance may have got the better of me this time, but I will win one of these days.

London Easter 10k - 6th April 2026

My original plan was to spend my Bank Holiday Monday running 31km, my last long run before the London Marathon in three weeks time.  Instead I chose to take advantage of Lauren and the girls visting Jan and booked myself in for a 10km race in London.  I enjoyed a successful half marathon in Middlesbrough in March along with my parkrun performance at Clare on Saturday and so I wanted to get a 10km race in to complete the set.

I last ran a 10k at the end of October last year in 47:48, now with five or so months of good training behind me and my 20:58 5km from Saturday I felt that a sub 45 minute 10km should be achievable.  I had done a little pre-race research and it looked like a small event of 200 or so runners.with not alot of super speedy ones so sub 45 would have me fairly near the front.

I was a little keen, and so left the house not long after 7am and arrived at the station in plenty of time for my 7:45 train to London.  Hopping on the circle line to Great Portland Street and the short walk to Regents Park for the race.  I arrived about 9am and had plenty of time to waste with the race not starting till half 10.  

I haven't been to Regents Park before, but it was beautiful.  A perfect spring morning and I enjoyed a stroll around the park, whilst trying to scout out the route as a I did.  With the walk to the station as well I managed to hit my 11,000 steps for the day before the race even started.  I did a short one km warm-up and got myself back to the start in time for the briefing.  Nothing too dramatic to report, 10km is 3 laps and count your own laps.  

The kids in the two mile fun run were right at the front and I was a couple of rows further back.  I just wanted to avoid any slow moving traffic in front.  I did ok in that respect, but only just.  One woman ran, then stopped dead on the start line, presumably because she didn't have satelitte signal or some such.  It was mental, but we all managed to avoid crashing into the lunatic.  

The race then turned onto a nice wide path and I could get into my running.  The park was still open to the public and so there was some weaving.  They had said in the race instructions that it was a no headphone race and I took them at their word.  I didn't want to mess about with bagdrops and so I ran the 10k with my big headphones round my neck.  The course wasn't the most straight forward and so hearing the marshalls instructions was useful and you are generally a bit more in tune with your surroundings when headphoneless.  

The race spread out quickly.  I was working hard throughout the race, breathing heavily from the start and throughout, and this time I didn't have the music to drown it out.  I could feel the effort level was a little too high and I was hunting for km signs early and often.  

It was difficult to tell who was in the race and who wasn't.   You would come past a runner and they might be someone you were lapping, or a runner happily enjoying their run, obvilious that a race was going on.  There were also dogs off leads, walkers and kids out with their parents enjoying the Bank Holiday sun.  It all meant that you had to have your wits about you.  As the race wore on and the fatigue set in that became harder and harder.  I managed to remain on course and not trip over any innocent bystanders.

There were some bumps around the course, nothing too dramatic but enough that you had to work.  The roll down the hill after the fountain that I used to recover, then turning around and back up the slope before a nice gentle downhill and a second gradual incline.  I was hanging on heading into the third lap and that is shown in my splits, here they are for the entire race:

• 4:16 - 1km
• 4:23 - 2km
• 4:14 - 3km
• 4:21 - 4km
• 4:23 - 5km
• 4:15 - 6km
• 4:23 - 7km
• 4:29 - 8km
• 4:26 - 9km
• 4:19 - 10km
• Final 0.07 miles 26 seconds (5:52 min/miles)

That cluster from 7km-9km you can see I am clinging on.  All mid to high 4:20's before a final push of 4:19 and then a sprint for the line and that 26 seconds of extra effort I could have done without.  Rather too long than too short though.

I finished strong, relieved to have finished, I could so easily have resorted to a 30 second catch your breath walk at numerous points during the race but didn't.  My final time of 43:55 really was my maximum effort and I left nothing out there.  I finished 27th out of 218 finishers, but was disappointingly only the third fastest Simon, in a stacked Simon field.  

This race was my 27th 10km race and my fifth fastest , it was also my fastest in nearly 11 years, since my PB race of 41:44 in May 2015.  WAVA has me achieving 63.37% yesterday which is my best ever over the distance, that PB from 2015 was only worth 63.28%.  Which seems a little cruel for having gone more than two minutes faster, but that is what the world expects of fit young 31 year olds, they are a little kinder to 42 year olds trying to cling onto their running dreams.

I am hoping to get the originally planned 31km run completed tonight after work, no time goals, only to make it feel as easy as possible and boost my confidence as the London Marathon looms ever closer.  On Monday though there was no thought of the marathon, only the joy of having given my all for 44 minutes, the smile stayed with me all the way home.

Clare Castle parkrun - 4th April 2026

 It is always good to start the weekend with a parkrun, my opportunities have been few and far between with the girls dance commitments curtailing those.  This weekend was the Easter shutdown and so I took advantage and got myself along to Clare Country Park .   This was my second appearance at Clare, my previous one coming last Easter,  On that occasion I ran 24:31, and now much better trained I was hoping for 21:00-21:30.

It was a family affair, being the Easter weekend.  Lauren and the girls were there as my support crew, along with my Mum and Dad.  My brother Luke also ran with his son Thomas who is a regular at junior parkrun, and this was his second full parkrun, Thomas ran brilliantly, and comfortably came home in under half an hour.  Luke's wife Amber also ran strong and got under 35 minutes, far exceeding her expectations.

As for my race I had done some research and it looked like if I achieved my target time I would be finishing in the top 15 or so and so I positioned myself at the front on the right hand side ready for the go signal.  When it came, I hared off far too quickly.  I always like to go out hard, but even I knew this was excessive.  A glance at my watch and seeing 3:30 min/km confirmed it and I tried to ease back after that.

Looking at my 1/8th of a mile splits they have me going through the opening half mile as follows:

• 0.13 miles - 42 seconds (5:33 min/mile)
• 0.25 miles - 44 seconds (5:48 min/mile)
• 0.38 miles - 49 seconds (6:31 min/mile)
• 0.5 miles - 49 seconds (6:36 min/mile)

I managed to ease up sufficiently that I went through the first km in 3:53, stupid, but not as stupid as it might have been given the fast start.  It had me in 5th place, behind a young boy in an orange t-shirt.  The leader was off and out of sight, so it was clear my maiden parkrun victory would have to wait.  I ran 4:08 for km two, and a group of four runners went past me.  The race is three laps and so you get a look at those in front and behind you, I could see a steady stream of runners nipping at my heels and was concerned another wave would come past me.  In the event that didn't happen.

I saw Luke and Thomas running well as I headed back towards the start on the first lap, and waved and grunted at my supporters on completing the lap.  It was very much just trying to keep at it, I knew the time was good it was just a case of keep on, keeping on.  The third km was completed in 4:15.  I saw Amber on my second lap, and I was told after the race that she heard me before she saw me.  When I am at max effort I do make some horrible heavy breathing as I search for any available oxygen.  Thankfully I had my headphones on, playing my carefully curated Spotify playlist and so didn't hear myself.

Two laps completed is always nice, knowing that you are heading out on your final lap and you are seeing each spot for the last time.  I went through the fourth km in 4:13.  Clare is a narrow course and with it being three laps it can be a little awkward passing people, particularly near the end of the lap and the loop section.  You are then trying to fit in four lanes of traffic into what is a comfortable two lanes, and three at a squeeze.  Everyone was very accommodating and it didn't slow my progress.

I was relieved to make it out of the woods and onto the finishing straight.  I worked hard all the way through the line and was very pleased to receive a 9th position finishing token.  My official time was 20:58 just five seconds short of my time at Middlesbrough that I ran just after Christmas.  Middlesbrough is a much faster course, no sharp 180 degree turns, it is entirely on tarmac and is ever so slightly net downhill.  I was also 41 when I ran that and now aged 42 my WAVA is actually better for this weekend's effort.  

In fact, based on WAVA the only one of my 68 parkruns to beat this weekend's effort was my PB of 19:21 ran back in March 2011, that gave a WAVA of 66.67% compared to Clare's 66.06%.  Some other positive numbers from this weekend's effort, it was the first time I have run a sub 4 minute opening km since 2015, a more concerning stat is that my 5th km was 4:16 and the slowest of the day.  I normally start fast and finish fast, holding it together in the middle, with my third of fourth km being the slowest.  Today is only the second time ever that my slowest km has come in the final km.  It was only by a second, and the extra bit of distance at the end I ran in 15 seconds at 5:17min/mile pace so I did still leave a little something in the tank.

Overall I was really pleased with my performance, a comfortable course record and very close to my recent best.  I am hoping to run Southend parkrun next weekend and perhaps I can get sub 20:50 if the wind plays ball.  I won't fret too much, the plan is to take some big chunks off my 5k time during the course of 2026, for now Clare Castle parkrun was a very pleasing start to my Easter weekend.

Essex 20 - Race Report

 It has now been a week since my race at the Essex 20.  It was a tough morning's work, and I think it has caught up with me now.  I booked this race before realising it was on Mother's Day, and it will likely fall on that weekend in the future, so I may have to swerve it for the foreseeable. It's a pity becauase it's timing as preparation for a spring marathon is pretty perfect.  

The course itself definitely has a high boredeom factor, five laps of a four-mile circuit around an airfield, but that familiarity and rhythm is useful for pacing yourself and also means you are never far away from the loos, or your car for a resupply.  Thankfully I didn't require either, but it was a comfort to know it was there if needed.

The race was a half nine start and was a decent drive from home, I wished Lauren a happy Mother's Day and left the house about half seven getting to the airfield and parked with plenty of time to spare.  I got to meet up with Charlotte who was also running, in preparation for Edinburgh Marathon which comes a month after London.  We had a nice chat before the start, I then went for a short warm-up whilst she went to see her clubmates.

The race got underway on time with the 500 or so runners heading out on their opening lap.  It is a strong field, the race doubles up as the county championships and is very club runner heavy.  With the looped course you were never far from company but also had plenty of space to run which I like.  

Given it is on an airfield you might expect a good surface but there were plenty of potholes to avoid and so there were big stretches of eyes on the floor and being wary where you placed your feet.  The conditions were good, the temperature was near perfect and it was dry, the one condition working against us was the wind.  Strava tells me it was 12mph, but it felt stronger than that and definitely picked up in the second half of the race.  The early section of the lap was sheltered by trees but there was a long straight once you come out of that and it felt like a block headwind to me.  It was there early on the fourth lap that I had my first walk break.

I ran this race in 2023 totally untrained when I completed it in 4:06 with 2:15 of it spent walking but walking was definitely not on my 2026 race plan given the good six-month block of training I have been able to put together.  In the end I was able to keep the walking contained to 13 minutes.  Here are my five-mile splits:

• 41:14 (Total 41:14) 8:15 min/miles (5:08min/km)
• 42:07 (Total 1:23:21) 8:25 min/miles (5:14min/km)
• 43:55 (Total 2:07:17) 8:47 min/miles (5:27min/km)
• 49:11 (Total 2:56:28) 9:50 min/miles (6:07min/km)
• 1:31 (Total 2:57:59) 7:15 min/miles (4:30min/km)

As you can see my pace faded section by section before a 90 second sprint for the finish line.  

The section 1 to 2 fade is ok, it will largely be explained by a couple of excitable opening miles.  The section 2 to 3 fade is contained in miles 14 and 15 where I walked.  That fourth section is the run when you can, walk if you can't section.  What a slog that was.   Then a satisfying run to the finish over the final 400 metres or so.

I was relieved to complete the race and there were definitely moments that I could happily have pulled the plug, but the one area I consistently miss are the long runs and so it was good to get a 20 miler in the bank, even if portions of it were walked.  It also allowed me to test out my nutrition, I had four gels through the race, and for some reason opted for no liquids of any kind which might have been an error.  

It is a tough pill to swallow but my time target for London will need to be revised downwards off the back of this.  From the 3:30-3:34 I had hoped to run and earning a PB in the process to something more like 3:50-4:00.  Given the six months training I have managed to put together that is frustrating, but I need to keep my eye on the summer of 2028 timeline and use this six months as the strong building block that it is.

I have run lower mileage this week and all of it has been easy.  Despite that my body is still bust up.  Tightness in my lower back and left calf, something isn't quite right in my right quad.  Ontop of which I woke up Sunday morning with a sore throat that is worsening.  I just want to try and stay calm about it, I hope to be running strong again by the end of this week.  I can then have a good two weeks of hard training before the long overdue taper down prior to the race.  The Essex 20 was a reality check, but I'm still in good shape.  I ran a 1:42 half marathon just three weeks ago and as long as my body doesn't break, London should be a very special race.  Onwards and upwards.

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.