13.1 miles Hartford half marathon

Darren called me on wednesday evening to see if I fancied running in the local half Hartford half marathon.

Photos on here.

Official results here, bib number is 8551.

I decided I could do with a long run before Lausanne and so why not? So he signed me up and that was my long run sorted.

Now Darren is not known for his running prowess, so once he picked up my bid and runner's pack for me he swung by the bar where his buddies were hanging out and they were gobsmacked to see him rock up with with a race bag!

The big day arrived nd I had the best night's sleep of my trip. No street noise, nice hard bed, no noisy air con. Perfect preparation.

The start was 8am and we needed to pick up a friend of darren's who was doing the full marathon. They have a stunning lake side place about the size of the town I live in back home in Switzerland. I managed to elevate her stress levels even higher by bugging her about longest run to date, predicted time and so on. She did great finishing in 5:40 and the goal was finishing so she achieved that.

We got to the start over one hour early so I decided to stay with Darren to park the car in his office and walk back slowly. Cool as a cucumber with 30 to go I gave Darren my bag and headed off to get the hrt up to something more appropriate than he high 40s.

Having a bag man changes everything. No queuing and you can leave it to the end.

Unusually the half, full and 5km all started at the same time and place. So there were thousands of us. I jumped the barrier at the 8min mile marker with the idea I would move up the field during the race. The start had all the trappings of a big american event with the national anthem, flags, prayers and speeches. Great stuff.

I spotted Darren in the crowd snapping away and smiled and stood up straight. Elite away 30 before the masses and then it was race on. Roads were wide and closed on both sides so no boxing. The half full split was well signed and announced to my relief. By three miles I check the pace and was way too fast, mile 3 in 21 so eased of a bit. Rock bands every mile or so and pockets of crowds everywhere. High fives for the kids and enjoyed the run.

Started to tire at around seven miles but was boosted by a piper at mile 8. I shouted to him that I was from Scotland and he rewarded me with Scotland the brave!

Took a risk at nine and sipped the gator aid. Lime and ok. Took a whole cup at ten and that got me home. Through the Elizabeth park the kids had chalk messages of encouragement. Very sweet.

Back to town perceived effort was through the roof but no return on speed, just held the pace.

Great finish under the soldiers and sailors memorial and full on sprint to the finish. Nice massage and runners lunch. Saw the winners of the full marathon come in at 2:20, it was a close finish and number 2 nearly died at the line.

My time was 1:36 with a negative split so happy enough with that. Left calf injured slightly, but after a few days it seems to be improving ok.

Overall: 241st of 4612
Male: 189th of 2072
M40-44: 33rd of 307

Garmin