What better way to run your first half-marathon than by signing up for the IAAF World Championships which were being held in Cardiff? In for a penny in for a pound, that’s my motto. Seriously though, the opportunity to run in the same race as Mo Farah and ‘get’ a world ranking was too much to pass up.
We arrived in Cardiff, on a glorious warm Friday afternoon, with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. It wasn’t to last though, and on Saturday we lined up outside the Castle with around 15,000 people mostly wearing ponchos or bin-bags to keep the wind and rain at bay. After a rousing rendition of the Welsh National Anthem, we were off to chase down Mo.
Shortly after the start, the weather took a turn for the worse. About three miles in the hailstones arrived – horizontally – and then, as we crossed the sea barrage, we were treated to gusts of wind in the 30-40mph range!
The crowds were great and one shout to me of ‘great running, you’ve got this!’ was worthy of the support you get from fellow Joggers, particularly as it came only 5 miles into the race…
Cardiff Castle, Penarth Marina, Dr Who’s Tardis and Roath Park were all lovely sites to see, but we just settled in to try and complete the course without drowning or succumbing to hypothermia. Suzie promised that she was never, ever, running a road half again!
In the end, we made it round, decent medals and t-shirts were collected and we headed off for some of the best veggie curry to be had anywhere.
All in all it was a great experience to be part of. Oh, and Suzie has already wavered and signed up to run the Cardiff Half-Marathon in October! (She says she’s ‘not going to be beaten by that b##@@%$d’).
Andy and Suzie – the 11706th and 11707th best half marathon runners in the world! J
