Tour of Torfaen Half Marathon 26.10.08, by Niki
26/10/2008 by Lou.
Lucky for us, the unseemly business of getting up at 6.30 on a Sunday morning was relieved by the clocks going back one hour – and quite stunningly no Harriers had forgotten about it.
Having been given a new, freshly valeted company car last week, I was keen to invite Harriers to share a ride with me to Torfaen in the knowledge that it would be the only time I would not be too embarrassed to have anyone in it. Also, driving means I don’t have to navigate – that’s what SatNav was brought along for.
Half an hour after setting off from Cheppers, we arrived at the Cwmbran car park in plenty of time to have those all important dashes to the loo before boarding the bus to Blaenavon. More loo dashes were had on arrival. Those who weren’t ultra efficient and had not pre-registered, could do so easily on the day – although this did involve joining a rather large queue. Race Administration was in front of an enormous stage, and Dick was asking for offers for fellow Harriers to put on a quick show to entertain those in the queue. I suggested doing a strip tease in order to thin out the queue as speedily and comprehensively as possible.
The weather conditions were a little inclement (i.e. light drizzle and overcast), but in fact turned out to be perfect running temperature. The first 5 miles or so were pretty much downhill so you could completely burn yourself out at the beginning if you weren’t prudent. However, all Harriers present (and there were plenty of them) put on good performances and all seemed pleased with their times. There were some undulations so the chant from half marathon purists in the vain of “it’s all downhill – and a PB at Torfaen doesn’t count” didn’t ring entirely true. Naturally though, I’m just saying that cos I got a PB. Other known PBs were from SatNav (by about 16 minutes – obviously not trying hard enough before then Mark), Ivan (although he claims his didn’t count re. The Torfaen principle), Colin (by about 7 minutes), and Lou’s Rob (beat his Cardiff time from last week by 6 minutes). There may well have been others – do shout about them if you did one!
Niki M
Times of Harriers (official results are not out yet) – sorry some times I’m not sure of:
SatNav – 1.16.50
Ivan – 1.17.05
Stuart – 1.17.40
Ben ?
Lou – 1.33.03
Lorna S – 1.33.10
Niki – 1.34.42
Colin – 1.38
Dick – 1.39
Royston T - ?
Rob Summers – 1.45
Geoff Bayliss – 1.46
Bill Bewg – 1.48
Syd – 1.49
Gareth Hoare - ?
Maurice Langford - ?
Steve Hoare - ?
Thanks Niki, do you think we will are be recovered for Thursday’s Severn Bridge 5k? I think I may not be!
