Truro Half Marathon 2011: done and dusted!

The start of the Truro Half Marathon 2011. Peter Le Grice clearly out in front right from the start with Colin Snook close on his heels and Pete Sowerby in the TRC vest well ahead of the crowd. (Thanks to St Austell Running Club for the photo)

Sheet rain and high winds had competitors running for cover before the start of this year’s race. The marquee was crammed with shivering, wet people as they queued to register and it didn’t look good. We feared the weather would put the dampers on 6 months of preparation and hard work, but as the rain eased off spirits lifted and the 541 runners at the start-line would ensure this was going to be a good race.

It was particularly good for the club, notably with Isobel coming in 2nd in both the open competition and her category. 15 of our 19 competitors came in under 2 hours with Dave Turner coming home first for the men in just 1:24:41, and there was a great personal best for Andy who beat last year’s time by over 7 minutes. Big congratulations go to Nikki Baron for her brilliant effort on this tough course, competing for the first time for the club. And if you’re wondering how come our head coach was last in the race, well he started about half an hour after everyone else and then ran/walked the final part of the course making sure no-one got left behind! Well, that’s what he says…

Check out the fantastic results below and find out what the race was like for our gliding Andy this year!

Andy on fine form

Firstly a massive thank you to all those at the club that assisted in putting on the event which enabled a number of us TRCers to run the race. The marshals were encouraging as was the support around the course. Particularly encouraging given the windy conditions and mud along the Newham trail.

The 9.30am start time seemed to work well and with some encouragement from Pete “the flying machine” Sowerby I line up with a nose bleed at the front, immediately behind Messrs Le Grice and Snook. This proved a good idea as the start gantry was a tad narrow and ensured a few seconds saved immediately we got going after Diane’s short and matter of fact briefing. It was very apparent that no runners would cross unless instructed to do so by a marshal!

A quick and slippery jaunt over the city centre cobbles and before I knew it I was heading out towards the Newham trail with Peter already moving off into the distance, and trying to look comfortable next to Izzy who had a determined look on her face seeking a “pbpb” (post babies personal best”).  Gliding over the muddy puddles she pulled away and was not to be seen until the finish.

Steady pacing was going to be my strategy for the day and implement the uphill running technique from training 2 weeks ago. In light of the length of the climb from Callenick to Playing Place this would prove very handy. I did find that I passed a number of runners up the hills. Please though, can we have some flat and downhill coaching too!!

A very windy summit at Playing Place followed by a long downhill and flat section along the tram road to Point before re enacting my up hill technique towards Penelewey. I for one did not cross until Kevin said I could! At this point my steady pace strategy appeared to be working as a number of runners that had earlier passed me had the disappointment of watching me glide serenely and slowly past.

Nearly all downhill now I tell myself and decide its time to try and use gravity to up my pace. Miles 11,12 and 13 were all sub 7 minutes so clearly this worked. If only the headwind along Newham had been a little lighter then I might have broken the 1 hour 34 min mark I just exceeded.

There to greet me was a beaming Izzy having beaten her Indian Queens mark and a Peter who I believe did around 1 hour 25 mins.  Lizzie romped home just behind me and I did manage to catch up with Tony Berry, rightly very pleased with his 1hr and 42 mins and Chris Ramsey and Graham Nicholls (both who unfortunately didn’t enjoy the run despite doing well).

All in all a good day and particularly pleasing as I was 8 and a half minutes quicker than last year and 7 minutes quicker than my Truro best.

Andy Goundry

Results

Open Competition

Men

1. Peter Le Grice, Mounts Bay Harriers: 1:13:27 (new course record)
2. Noel Kindon: CAC: 1:15:32
3. Colin Snook: CAC: 1:16:01

Women

1. Jo Meek, Tavistock AC: 1:26:00
2. Isobel Wykes, TRC: 1:31:25
3. Sarah Kenworthy, Hayle Runners: 1:33:35

Overall Results

Download the pdf: Truro half marathon results – 2011

TRC Results

Gallery

A slight mishap on Sunday has probably sent my camera/phone out to sea by now, which means we don’t have the video I took of the start of the race and is responsible for me stealing the photos in the gallery below from St Austell Running Club!  StARC’s photos are great and there are lots more on their site for you to check out too.