South Coast Half Marathon
Some time ago a few Stubbies had the idea of a quick summer half marathon.....The South Coast Half Marathon in Seaford seemed ideal as the website described it as flat and fast and very well supported.
Two out of the three elements were present! It was certainly flat, running 4 laps along the promenade. Spectators were out in good support and there was a nice buzz about the race with a number of runners raising money for fantastic causes. Unfortunately the weather was not ideal so the race was not fast....no sun and a very strong wind left to right so in both directions along the promenade you had to run with the wind in your face and the only relief was when you got in behind the beach huts!
The race started at 9am and Rob Spencer and Lewis Chalk travelled up together and met Chris Munro and his family at the race. We were up there in good time and had plenty of time to scout the course, collect our numbers and get rid of any pre race nerves. When the race started it involved 5k, 10k and Half Marathon runners all running laps of the promenade. The first lap was a bit confusing with a couple of 10k runners at the front and Lewis having to check if they were his competition or not.
After 2 slightly shorter laps to the half marathon route, the faster 10k runners had finished along with the 5k runners so it was then a case of now running through the crowds to finish the remaining laps. The Stubbies all ran well and offered support to each other as they passed on the promenade and there were a couple of female supporters who took a shine to Lewis' GO FAST SOCKS! This certainly made this part of the course a highlight and he was quick to thank them after the race ;-)
Lewis finished in 76minutes 20seconds and won the race by over 1 minute. He run a consistent race, with strong mile splits so the training has paid off. He didn't quite manage the sub 75minute target he wanted though and the wind was clearly a factor as was running solo at the front of the race for 13.1 miles! ......10seconds a mile quicker next time! Massive thanks to Penny for support with training, the structure certainly helped and apologies if I over trained.
Chris was happy to complete another half marathon and from his facebook status' he clearly has his sights on continued training and improvement! He finished in 1:27:50 so the training is going well as the conditions were tough and Chris still managed to finish in the top 15 runners. Well done!
Rob Spencer enjoyed the race and tolerated Lewis' pre race chat all the way up to Seaford - so well done! Rob is training hard now for The Great South Run and Gosport Half with PB's firmly in mind. His race in Seaford was positive and finished in around 2hours 15minutes so a good long run. He also had a good massage after and even more race analysis on the way home from Lewis meant for a great Sunday!
Full race results are available here - http://www.southcoastrun.co.uk/docs/results%20and%20photos.htm
That now marks the end of Lewis' racing for 2010 and finally he has won a road race! He is now off to live and work in the Dominican Republic and will be training for the Miami Marathon in January 2011.....training reviews will be provided!
Thanks, The South Coast Half Marathon Runners
Photos here.