Race Date: Sunday 2nd March 2025

How not to prepare for a half marathon

Ingredients:

1 bout of bad Covid
4 weeks off work and exercise
2 50 mile weeks when feeling better
1 Bob Graham Leg with 12.5 miles and 5500 feet of elevation the day before
2 cans of Hazy Jane the afternoon before
7 pints of fine Fell Brewery IPA the evening before
2 very sore toenails
2 tight and tender Quads
1 poor night’s sleep of the sofa
1 it’ll be fine attitude, I’m just going to have fun

Recipe

Mix all the ingredients together randomly, shake it all up, pour it out and see what you get. However, it’s guaranteed not to be good. Turn up on the day and see what happens.

I’d like to say, I wholeheartedly blame Amy Duck for the excessive drinking on Saturday night as I was ready to go home, she knows I’m weak willed and talked me into having 3 more!!

Anyway, a word of advice, don’t ask me for training advice as it’ll not be text book standard. You might have a good time but you won’t get a good time.

Haweswater half is a lovely, scenic 13.1 miles out and back from Bampton, along the side of Haweswater, turn around and come back. I do it every year. It’s on a Sunday and I seem to have got into a habit of doing silly things on the Saturday before, in order to make a full weekend. The missing ingredient this weekend was Keswick parkrun as it was sadly cancelled  so that, at least, did save me 3.1 miles.

There were 416 finishers. The men’s race was won by Joe Crutchley (unattached) in 1.09.00. The female race was won by Yasmin Small of Bingley Harriers in 1.26.19

Striders results: