Race Date: Sunday 24th November 2024

Race Report by Laura Rangeley

This was the third time I’ve done this race, and I don’t mind admitting that every year I’ve signed up primarily for the hoodie, which finishers are presented with in lieu of a medal. In 2021, the comeback year after Covid, the hoodie was burgundy. I loved the hoodie, hated the race. 2023 brought a vivid orange hoodie, and a much more enjoyable race day culminating in a course PB of over 15 minutes. I enjoyed it so much that I was a keen bean to sign up for 2024. Road running really hasn’t been my focus this year, but I was interested to see where I was at over half marathon distance – my speed has increased over short distances (the 2 weekends before this race saw PBs as part of the Parkrun Cup) and I’ll merrily keep moving all day, but consistency of pace over middle distance has been somewhat lacking. I also spent much of the week before the race with a stinker of a cold, so decided the wise thing to do was go into Clowne Half with no goal in mind and no expectations of what I might be able to achieve.

We woke up, in the dark, to torrential rain and howling winds. A lovely start! We headed to Clowne with a nice full car, me and Jim plus Hannah M and Laura M, where we spent the whole journey pondering our life choices and wondering if we should just buy a hoodie and go out for a nice breakfast instead. Arriving in Clowne itself I think we were all grateful for an indoor area to stay warm-ish and dry-ish, before heading to the start line, where the rain decided to get worse just as the countdown got underway.

The course is described as undulating, and I’d merrily told Hannah on the way over that I could only really remember two hills. I spent the vast majority of the race cursing my stupid memory. It really does seem as if almost all the way round is just a bit uphill. The first 5k or so are all a gentle climb, before a quick plunge down into the charming little village of Whaley. The rain had eased by this point but giant puddles were a new challenge. A 4×4 was kindly waiting for runners to pass at the far end of one, which many of us chose to totter around the side of to avoid soggy trainers. I dithered sufficiently long over which way to go round it that I left myself no choice but to go straight through the middle, which got me a cheer from the Landrover driver. On the next climb I realised I had brought with me one single gel, and promptly began to panic about when to have it – we were about 10km in at this point and I was starting to hanker after a bit of a snack. Luckily a kindly marshall with Jelly Babies came to my aid, just in time for the only other notably downhill section which took us into Creswell, of Crags fame.

The last third of the race was a slog. I was starting to feel like I’d spent the week a snotty mess, and a recovering ankle injury started to niggle about 10 miles in, so I walked big chunks of the final three on my physio’s advice. This last bit was characterised by a horrible headwind too. I managed to speed up as I approached a small out-and-back section to avoid the view of a man having a poo behind a hedge, I imagine he’d not realised there were runners coming from three different angles towards the crest of the hill he’d chosen to get his arse fully out upon.

Anyway on that bum note I suppose I should hurry up and get to the end of the race. A final climb back into Clowne where I managed to muster up a slight increase of speed to overtake a few runners, spurred on by a marshall asking me if I was made of Yorkshire stuff or not, and a painful attempt at a sprint finish over the last 200m and it was done. I was rewarded with a crowd-pleasing, if a little unexciting, grey hoodie and a piece of very nice chocolate and raspberry brownie. I was about 3 minutes slower than last year, and lots of us felt like it had been a tough day out, especially on account of the wind – and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that a half marathon just isn’t my distance, but that’s ok, can’t win ’em all (she says, as though she’s ever won any…). I’ve probably got enough hoodies now and don’t think I’ll do this race again, but it’s well organised with a great friendly atmosphere, so I would recommend it. Just don’t let anyone tell you it’s flat.

The race was won by Thomas Shaw of Worksop Harriers in 1.16.28 (notably 90 seconds slower than his winning time last year, which might just support my above theory?) and Jenny Cartmell of HRRC in 1.26.56. There were 680 finishers.

Twenty-seven Striders lined up for the Clowne Half.

Striders Results