15th September 2002

• Report - 'My first Half Marathon'
• Report - 'Finally, a weekend away'
• Results

My First Half Marathon

With Richard in the driving seat, we traveled up to Nottingham Friday afternoon.  Thanks to Katy’s planning skills, our Bed and Breakfast was only two doors away from a pub, where we enjoyed our evening meal.  Rich was flabbergasted after watching Katy delve into a plate of scampi and chips (her first deviation from vegetarianism since he’d know her!) – although she did admit waking in the night feeling very guilty!

Saturday began with some sightseeing, first to Sherwood Forest – where I ‘rescued’ an acorn, to plant my very own Sherwood Oak Tree!  Back into the town centre, we went to a set of caves, the entrance of which was on the top floor of a shopping centre (yes, we thought it was strange too!).

Saturday evening (after a test drive to the start line), we met up with Lesley, Brian and my family (who’d driven up to spectate), for a mini pasta party.  We were only slightly worried when we had to walk up a ‘seedy’ alleyway to reach the restaurant – but it was much nicer from the inside (again, thanks to Katy).

Sunday morning, we arrived to the start in plenty of time, only to find about 300 people queuing for the toilets (ok, we weren’t really surprised).  A quick phone call and 5 mins walk, lead us to my family’s hotel, where we were able to ‘borrow’ a toilet each!  After following the organised aerobic workout (and proving to ourselves that we did have some energy in our legs), we made our way to the start.  For me, this was an experience in itself, I hadn’t been able to imagine what 10,000 people looked like, but I was pleasantly surprised by how calm I felt.  It took 2 minutes for Katy and myself to pass the start line, and the roads were pretty solid for the next few miles – it was a strange feeling running with so many people.  The course soon became uphill, passing through the town centre.  We took it steady for the first half, taking in our surroundings, including seeing the race leaders run past on the other side of the road.  Running through a scenic park at 6 miles, Katy, who had paced me well so far, let me off my leash!  Still running steadily, and feeling good, I met a long hill at nine miles, I found a man that was looking strong and followed him to the top (spotting him ahead by the large Nike swish on the bum of his shorts!).

My knees and ankles were beginning to feel the distance when I went past 10 miles at 1hr31 (sub 2hrs was looking possible), when I spotted Sean and my brother Steve, with my Lucozade (they couldn’t have planned this better!).

The end of the race was ran alongside the River Trent (which at least meant it was fairly flat).  As I approached the finish straight, there was Rich (who had finished within his target time of under 1:40 (1:38)), mum, dad and grandma cheering me on – I felt brilliant, I had done it – 1hr55mins(40 secs).  I met Brian (about 1:56) at the finish, Katy followed at 2:05 and then Lesley (2:12), still looking strong.

Thanks to Richard Fellingham for a training schedule that worked brilliantly, Katy, Rich, mum and dad for keeping me going on those long training runs, Steve and Grandma for their loud cheers on the day and Sean, just for being there and encouraging me to get this far – London here I come!

Karen Goodwin

Finally, a weekend away

Finally, a weekend away from sleepy Suffolk!  A two and a half hour drive to Nottingham on a Friday afternoon brought us to our B&B, a short 10 miles away from the start of the 22nd Robin Hood Half Marathon (& Marathon).  Some simply saw this as an excuse to avoid the Ipswich/Norwich football home derby, but I can assure the readers that there was some rivalry evident in Nottingham too!

Saturday was a time to explore for a few of us.  We visited the Sherwood visitors centre and the Major Oak.  Also the caves underneath Nottingham (to which you get to from the upper floor of the local shopping centre!?).  Between this we managed games of Scrabble, Pickup sticks and Taboo in our friendly and open Bed & Breakfast.  In the evening we met up with Brian & Lesley, together with the official Stowmarket Striders Supporters Club being almost the entire Goodwin family from Grandma to Grandson, for the traditional pre-race Italian restaurant.

Getting up early for our full English breakfast it was an easy drive to the start of the race, giving us enough time to join the pre-race aerobics session before joining the 9000 plus runners at the start. 

The race course was pretty much based entirely through the streets of Nottingham, not seeing one part of the famous Sherwood forest or Robin Hood country as imagined from the race name.  Being a fairly undulating course it took the runners through the city centre, past the castle, out to a park and eventually back along the river to the finish.  It was well supported by the public.

Having started quite fast, I felt myself struggling a little towards the finish but managed to complete the half under my target of 1 hour 40 minutes, as planned.  If only I had taken the training seriously!?!  I was quite pleased, and began back along the course to assist the official Striders supports club to cheer in Karen (her 1st ever half marathon!), and the rest of the Striders.

I had a great weekend, enjoyed the company and would recommend the race as a great experience before moving up-to a full Marathon like London.  A BIG thanks also goes to the Goodwin's (the most energetic being Grandma Goodwin!) for their support at numerous points throughout the race course.

Rich
Website Manager

The Stowmarket Striders results are:-

There were 5338 finishers in the half marathon (last time being 4hrs 41mins & 35secs!).