Another chilly morning meant the thousand odd runners gathered in Cantley Park half an hour before the start of this years Wokingham Half were either expending energy jogging about in shorts trying to stay warm or skulking out of the wind waiting till the last minute to strip down. I was in the latter group and didn’t expose flesh to the cold till 9:50 when I dumped my bag in the crowded baggage tent then hurried to find my place for the start. I spotted fellow VCAC Ade Gibon on the other side of the tent filling in a bag label as I left, no doubt he’d start late then pass me after the first few miles as usual.

Hoping for under 1:45 but not at all confident I’d manage it I lined up by the 1:50 marker where I met Alexandra Portwine also in Vegan Runners vest and hoping to beat her 1:50 PB. Noise from the front and we were off though it was a few minutes of shuffling before we actually crossed the start timing mat, over 2000 runners meant a bit of congestion for the first half mile but probably did me more good than bad as a gentle jog evolved into a proper run allowing the first mile to come close to my 7:55 minute mile target pace.

I managed to stay a few seconds faster than target place for most of the first 10 miles, slowing for water around mile 5 then water and a decaffeinated gel around mile 8. I passed a good few runners without feeing I was going too hard. The temperature was just right now and the wind not as bad as I’d been expecting. Alex passed me looking strong, I caught up and managed to stay with her for a short while. I hadn’t spotted Ade passing so assumed he’d started further up the field and was ahead somewhere.

There is a slight climb back over the M4 and beyond so I wasn’t surprised to find myself struggling the 10th mile. Disappointingly the 11th and 12th felt worse and sneaked over 8 minute mile pace despite my attempt to dredge up just a bit more power. Liz Yelling passed in the opposite direction warming down after winning the women’s race again, she looked a lot fresher than I felt. Mile 13 was really tough and seemed to go on for ages, quite a few runners passed me and despite only dropping the pace to 8:15 it felt pathetic.

No sprint for the line but I managed to keep running and my watch time of 1:44:03 later turned out to precisely agree with my chip time giving me a PB of 40 odd seconds and a gun position of 955/2185. Alex had finished about a minute in front and was well pleased having knocked 7 minutes of her PB. Ade turned out to have finished just behind me, though with a faster chip time, having started right at the back to practice his 8 minute mile marathon pace.

In retrospect I realise I’ve not run over 12 miles since last November so I should have expected a tough finish – a short while afterwards I was feeling quite pleased with my efforts and looking forward to the MK Half in 2 weeks!