Hana and Julie are back from their Czechoslovakian jaunt and have survived to tell us the tale!  Here are Hana’s report and Julie’s pictures…

Hervis Prague Half Marathon, April 2011

Many months ago Julie (John’s) asked me if I fancied running the Prague Half marathon as some of the Hayle Ladies were thinking of doing it. I must have been between races with no memory of the pain I go through on half marathons, when I said “OK”. My father was Czech and it had been 30 years since I had last visited the country, so all in all this seemed like a great race to run in.

Don't worry, you're on the right website!! Spot Hana in the blue with the Hayle Runners in Prague

Pre race training consisted of running the Bideford Half in the cold, wrapped up in warm tops with gloves on, finished off with the 10 mile An Res Hellys race. Good grounding I thought, off road in prep for the cobbles etc…… How foolish could I be. You see Prague in April can be very cold, even snow could be on the ground and what was it like this year? The bl—dy med!

Race Numbers were collected the day before the race along with the goodie bag, which consisted of a nice White technical T-Shirt (the men’s shirt was better, as it was Hayle running club green) and a duffle bag. The race start time was Saturday 2nd April at 12 noon….to allow for some warmth on a usual Czech spring morning to break through?

The information pack stated that the drinks stations along the route provided water, energy drink and TEA…yes TEA. I thought this would help warm the old girl when she was suffering frost bite, especially if they provided cake and biscuits to go with it. I was quite looking forward to this, such luxury, something we are not use to in Cornwall.

Sadly Julie came down with a horrendous chest infection on arrival in the Czech republic, and was sounding like a woman with a 50 a day “Woodbine” habit, so made the decision not to run the race. She did get her goodie bag though and made one Italian Female jump up and down with delight when she passed over her race Number to her (without timing chip of course). So, Julie became my supporter and at the allotted time, together we walked the ¼ mile from hotel to start area at Jana Palacha Square to join the other 9500 runners. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the temperature was a scorching 72 – 75 degrees…Ouch! I found Pen “D” joined the throng, Non of which appeared to speak English and boiled slowly for 20 minutes!

The race started on time, but it took a good 2 to 3 minutes for my Pen to get away. My mouth was already bone dry and I’d only moved a mere 200 metres. The crowd were fantastic and cheered us off. Our route followed the river for about 3k before heading inland passing “Tesco’s” then back out to the river again. By the second Km people were already walking and looking frail from the heat and it was really hard to find any shade to escape from it, but onward I ran. We crossed the river twice before reaching the start/half way point, where I saw the Hayle runners supporters and Julie. I had managed to sip some tea at one water station (no biscuits though) and pour two cups of water over my head, but to be truthful, I could have joined the many, who were pulling out at this point and not run any further. It was here, that the race leaders were seen, almost at the finish line, when I still had the other half to do!

The second half of the race wasn’t very scenic, but it was flat and for about 15 minutes the sun went behind a cloud. What relief. My legs felt like lead, my body shouted at me to just give up and I still had another 6 miles to go. I kept hearing my son say “Man up mother” so that is what id did.

Another water station and another cup or two of water poured over my head. Collasped runners were to be seen dotted along this section of the route, being treated by medics and I have to say they actually looked rather poorly. Some nice American man ran up behind me and said “Come on Truro” and promised to save me a drink at the finish, but my legs and my will to go on were fast fading. Head down, mind in neutral and on I went. Not at my usual pace, in fact I felt that if I went any slower, I’d be going backwards…….there was one man doing just that, running the race, backwards! Mad fool, oh yes and man hopping the whole way as well.

Hana and a well earned banana!

With the last bridge in sight, the finish line approaching, I managed a slight sprint to the line, and crossed it in 1hr 59:20. A slower finish than I would have liked, but If I knew I was going to be running in a furnace, I might have trained in a sauna for a couple months before hand. The finish line saw me have to keep myself upright, remove my racing chip, find water, where I became that feeble female who couldn’t speak let alone open the bottle, but I found a nice tall strong looking male to open it for me, then moved onto the table with recovery drink in plastic cups. There I stayed, drinking about 4 cups of the stuff and any others I could find, even if they were left by others half drunk. I’ve never known thirst like it. NO tea and biscuits though.

I found Julie and together we watched the last of the runners cross the line, And Sorry Hayle Runners, I did manage to beat all your girls. The evening was spent recovering in the company of the Hayle runners and their husbands in a Beer Keller, eating wonderful food and drinking the local beer. The Beer really did seem to help with the dehydration, unlike the red wine I try at home. Perhaps we could do an evening at Truro testing this theory out?????

Overall?

• Would I do this race again…….maybe, but in a cooler temperature please.
• Was it well organised…….Yes
• Toilets……….Loads, but a bit third world…No flush just a big hole you squat over. If you lost balance you could fall backwards into this void, and never be seen again….YUK!
• Bag drop…..excellent.
• Didn’t need parking or transport other than the plane to fly there.
• Hotel…..Fabulous, but I’m not telling anyone about it, as I may not be able to book it again, if I did.

Hana’s Results

Start number: F479 – CLITHEROW HANA
Category: MF45
Year of birth: 1962