From Hilda Coulsey…
Photo credit Tim Waterworth
Up and down the prom in Blackpool, what’s not to like?! And I love running along the coast 🙂 It was blustery and breezy but dry whereas it could have been a whole lot worse directly by the sea with no shelter from our prevailing westerly wind. The race was labelled as fast and flat, not mentioning the 100m elevation and the final 3 miles of climb directly into the wind. Travelling with Andrew Merrick this was the final training race in our marathon build up. I struggled in my last marathons not being that fit, injured in the build up, which meant my pace dropped too much in the last hour or more, including walking. My strategy for this race was to deliberately push it, then tough it out in the final quarter (practising being strong!). I did know that both the terrain and wind were against me making it tougher still which of course bore out. My pace did obviously drop but I didn’t walk and I certainly wasn’t unhappy with my overall time.
Andrew too did well, practising his pacing excellently.
Definitely recommended for a fast time, dependant on the weather.
(1 Fraser Minnican 1:13:36)
115 Andrew Merrick 1:44:18 3rd MV60
181 Hilda Coulsey 1:52:28 1st FV65 (and very pleased with F29/159)
473 ran
Edit: this is a new FV70 club record, taking off 20 minutes from Margot Dale’s record which had stood since 2013!