Wrexham Village Bakery Half Marathon

I know I like my bread, but running thirteen and a bit miles for some crumpets is a little bit above and beyond.

The Village Bakery, a Wrexham company going apparently, since 1934, were once again the proud sponsors of the Wrexham Half Marathon. I had booked onto this in February last year, having run the 2023 race in a sprightly 2:11:37, and thinking, ebulliently, that I could improve that time on this somewhat dull but flat (ish) course.

I remembered this thought as Sunday approached, and I gingerly rotated my right ankle, assessing the level of soreness on the foot around the righthand side of my leg. It didn’t really hurt when I ran, but then I hadn’t gone much beyond eight miles since the Helsby Half in January.

Again, like just before Helsby, I saw posts on Facebook, from people offering to sell, or even give their places away because they were no longer able to run it. Was I going to be one of those people?

There are two reasons why I might pay money for a race. Because I’m a mid to back-of-the-packer, one of those reasons is definitely NOT to win. I do them, mainly, to see where I am, fitness wise. To see if the training has improved my speed/stamina from what they were before. To really go for it, within my capabilities. The other reason, if I’m feeling not fully fit, or if I’ve got a bigger goal, is to think of it as a catered training run.

In July, I’m hoping to do a fifty kilometre trail race, called Race To The Stones. Only eight thousand metres further than a marathon so it should be a doddle! Definitely a bigger goal than this Sunday, so I disregarded the ankle and headed over to the Industrial park in Wrexham where the start, finish and great swathes of the race would be held. Like I said, dull. A catered training run it would be.

I got a lift with Iain, from the club, for which I was extremely grateful because I was hobbling by the end. The Finish was really far from the Start. I thought that I’d forgotten this reality, but looking back at my blog from 2023, I realised that Mark had done last year, what Iain had done this year. Brought the car closer so that I didn’t have to hobble very far. What top people are in my running club! It obviously also pays to get a lift with someone who is a lot faster than you, which, let’s be honest, isn’t hard.

It wasn’t all bad. After the initial couple of miles warm up where my breathing takes a bit of time to settle, I did feel pretty comfortable up to the ten mile mark, averaging around 10.40 minute miles. After that, the right foot, and a recently announced tight left quad began to knock on my brain’s door, so I did slow down a bit.

My hobbling was down to the fact that I floored it when I saw the ‘13’ sign just ahead. I lifted my knees, kicked back my legs and pumped my elbows like a champ. A champ made out of heavy jelly perhaps but still, I managed to get past one or two people in the final few hundred yards, which was satisfying. A much slower 2:24:13 than last year, but as a training run it was okay.

I do need to get my act together and start going longer than thirteen miles in my training now, in order to build myself up for July. I did think I’d start doing that after Helsby in January, but maybe, now that the days are visibly getting longer, I can just go off, with a small rucksack of munchies, and run/walk to get that time on my feet. I’m in the middle of a book called ‘Becoming Forrest’ by Rob Pope, for a book group. He ran across America. Five times. Following in the footsteps of Forrest Gump. It’s not the most gripping of narratives, but I’m kind of enjoying it for the sheer craziness of someone performing such a feat. I am never going to be that crazy, partly because running anywhere takes me a long time, but it’s inspiring to see what the human body can achieve if you are nuts enough to explore it.

PS: I had crumpets for my breakfast this morning, and they were delicious.