Race date:  Sunday 3^rd June 2018

This was the fifth (renamed) Run for All Derby Half and it was a hot (that means humid) one in a year of hot ones.

This was my first attempt and it all started well, apart from the bottlenecks at various points which caught quite a few out, including me.  The trip through (I was going to say “up through” but the total altitude gain on the whole course is only 36m) the town was interesting as I hadn’t seen it before.  Good footing (almost no potholes) and much enthusiastic route side support.

The rest of the road route was OK if a bit samey; mercifully, there was welcome shelter from the big shiny thing in the sky at strategic points, marked by quick and in some cases spectacular direction changes by overheating runners.

As you might guess, the water stations were a very welcome sight and I suspect that for some, mirages may have been an issue at later stages of the race.

For the first time in a race I saw a pretty large number of runners – entirely sensibly – walking at various points.  Being keen to foster intra-runner cooperation, I joined them every now and then.

The early results from the race – available here show that 2,640 runners mostly survived the course with Stephen Bayton (Hallamshire Harriers) winning in just 01:08:33 an amazing 4 minutes ahead of the second runner.  The first lady runner home was Sally Walker (Tipton Harriers) in a good 01:31:15.

The results show that 15 Striders finished the course: