There had not been a half marathon in Oxford city since the early 1990s and I was most excited when I heard a new one was in the offing. Months of rumour and uncertainty about road closures and race licences preceded the race but the local rag was behind it and the organisers sounded confident so I got my entry in and focused on the race as the point where I started winding down the distance cycling and winding up the running again in the hope of turning round my summer decline in pace. This would be the longest I’d run since the White Horse Half back in April.

Rumour (wrongly) had it that another VRUK member was entered and as I wasn’t expecting any VCAC runners this seemed a good chance to test run my new vest. Peter said he’d chase me round Oxford on his folding bike to offer support and take photos. Jane had also been put on photo duty as the route passed within half a mile of home. I was planning to get round in under 1:55 and hoping for nearer 1:50 but the main aim was to complete without injury and enjoy the event.

Sensible eating the few days before and not a drop of beer the night before then I was up at 6:30 for breakfast, giving it some time to go down, and on my bike heading for the start at 8:30. Not being a footie fan this was the first time I’d been to the Kassam Stadium despite it being open for 10 years now. Parked the bike against a wall as I couldn’t find the racks then found the loos which didn’t have the usual endless queue.

9:20am I was at the start with loads of other runners but come 9:30, start time, there was no sign of the organiser and we hadn’t had the usual pre-start spiel. Eventually the orgasniser appeared, appologised for the delay due to traffic problems, he and City Council leader Bob Price got their bits over with quickly – and we were off!

Good natured chaos presided for the first few miles, there had been no estimated time markers at the start so fast runners were near the back and fun runners up at the front. We ran through Blackbird Leys and then through the edge of the BMW Mini plant to cross under the ring road via the cycle subway.

We’d passed various groups of local supporters including Audax fast man Howard Waller out to give us encouragement. I bounced the first drink station at 3 miles as a bit early for me then gave Jane a thumbs-up as I passed her. She’d forgotten what vest I was wearing and wasn’t ready with the camera, the resulting picture of my out of focus disembodied head wasn’t quite as planned.

What with the excitement of racing on home territory and the muddle of a start I was running much faster than my planned pace. My miles were nearer 8 minute than the 8:40 I was supposed to be doing. We followed the ring road up to the Six Bells then turned off to run through Quarry Hollow soon joining Old Road, so named because it was the original Oxford London turnpike rerouted at the start of the 19th century due to problems with highway men in Shotover woods.

I spotted Peter about here but he’d just arrived and not got the camera out in time. A good long downhill, Old Road then Morrell Avenue, then we turned left opposite South Park and cut through side streets and a bit of Cowley Road to join the Iffley Road. We had to share bits of this stage with the local pedestrians but for me this only added to the atmosphere. Really was time for me to slow down though as I was feeling the strain and we were only halfway. We crossed Magdalen Bridge on the pavement and ran along High Street a bit before turning off left to follow Bear Lane through to St Aldates.

I decided to gob an energy gel here as we were approaching a water station – just in time for one of the official photographers as it turned out. Along the Abingdon Road now into a strong southerly wind and I was finding it hard work to keep up my 8:40 pace. I was well ahead of schedule though and nothing actually hurt, I was just knackered. Turning back onto onto the ring-road cycleway at mile 12, this time south of Oxford, we were in for a long gentle climb and I slowed a bit more. Under another subway and through Littlemore, I’d forgotten there was a bit more gentle climbing past the old asylum, now mostly residential flats.

On the last leg now and looking forward to getting it over with. There was Peter again with the camera. A runner wearing a ‘No Meat Athlete’ shirt I’d just passed and given a thumbs-up to re-passed me as did a few others. I can’t seem to to manage this sprint for the finish thing. We passed the entrance to the Kassam I expected us to turn through and carried on a bit to the entrance we’d started from. We were to approach the stadium finish line from the opposite direction from that which I’d expected. Then the last few metres and I crossed the line remembering to hit the stop button on my Garmin. I met up with Peter and ate a flapjack while we watched a few or the later finishers come in then it was off home for bath, lunch and a trip down the pub.

My chip time turned out to be 1:47:42, 437th of 1493 460 of 1512 recorded finishers (they’ve been fiddling with the results but this looks to be final – edited on 5th Oct). I was pleased with this result – even more so now 2 days have passed and no sign of damage from that too fast first few miles. Already looking forward to next years Oxford Half Marathon!