Race Report - Enniscorthy Half Marathon 2011

A bit late but here is the report of my attempt at the Enniscorthy Half Marathon, also called the Strawberry Half, which took place on the 26th of June 2011.

I arrived with plenty of time to warm up on an already warm morning in the town of Enniscorthy in Co. Wexford.  Wexford is famed for it's strawberries and they have a festival each year called the strawberry festival.  Last year they staged their first half marathon as part of this festival.  I was registered for the race last year but didn't run it as I picked up a slight knee injury.  This year I wasn't going to miss out again.

Parking was in a field beside the river, very close to the starting line.  I sat relaxed and then decided to jog the short distance, probably 500m or so, to the start as part of my warm up.  I was already sweating due to the heat and high humidity by the time I got to the start.  I had a feeling that this was going to be a tough race.  The temperature was 22ºC which is warm for Ireland but there was complete cloud cover and it felt very heavy.

At the start line I bumped into people I knew and we chatted about times and hopes for the race.  I was hoping for a PR, which meant I would have to come in under 1h 59m 30s.  I had decided to run with the 2hr pacers for the first 10km and then see how I felt after that.

The 2hr Pacers and their orange balloons

We all lined up and a gentleman climbed a step ladder with a loudspeaker to get us under way.  We ran straight to the first bridge and across.

Me "71" crossing the bridge

From here we ran along the river crossed back over the bridge and up our first hill with not even a kilometre done.  I should have realised from this point what the course would be like.  I've never ran as many hills in my life.

At least there is always a downhill

From here we left the town.  The two lads pacing were good craic and chatted away as we ran.  They knew the course really well and would let us know when the next hill was coming and motivate us through it, telling us to conserve energy and get the breath back on the down hills.  At 7km I started to feel a strong twinge in my left knee.  Not used to running many hills and with the road slanted and pretty much uneven my knees were getting a good going over.  After the injury at Christmas to my right knee and the length of time it took me to get back to running good distances I contemplated dropping out just in case I did some damage.  I decided that there is always an aid station, if I needed to I could stop there, and kept going.

At the 10km mark we hit our biggest hill and this separated those who were aiming for a sub 2 hours into two groups.  Once we got to the top of the hill my knee was giving me grief.  I decided that if I ran quicker I would be finished quicker and be in some pain for less time.  I picked up the pace a little, which actually helped the knee.  Maybe my form changed with  the change of pace, I don't know.  The clouds had broken at this stage and there was brushings of blue in the sky.  The sun was picking up in strength and the heat was making it tougher.  The water stations were extremely welcome when I came upon them.

12km in, just under 10km to go

From here with the heat the going got tough.  My heart rate was really high, it actually started higher than normal at the start due to the humidity.  All I could do was plod along.  Coming up to 16km and we crossed the bridge over the river that would mark our turn back towards the town.  What I thought was the last water station was here and I was so happy for the extra water.

Across the bridge and the return journey begins

From here it was 5km along a straight, main road.  I think I found this part the toughest of the course.  As tough as the hills were finishing by running 5km virtually in a straight line with nothing but a clear view of the distance you have to run in front of you was tough.  At 17km I could see the road looked like there was an incline up above.  At 18km I could see it was a hill and I was not prepared for this.  I thought this road was all flat for 5km.  My heart nearly stopped.  I was nearly out of energy and my brain was telling me to stop that I was going to collapse if I kept going.  I could feel I was over heating.  I had pushed my body very hard and was not sure If it would get me to the finish.  As I reached the crest of the hill a water station came out of nowhere.  I was never so happy to see a water station.  I drank half the bottle and poured the rest over me to cool me down.  I felt immediately better and my motivation came back.  I was going to finish and in a good time, for me, too.

Back down to the town we crossed the first bridge we crossed at the beginning of the race again and turned back to the finish line.  My knee was really aching now but not far to go now.  I crossed the line in 1:56:00 race time but a 1:55:36 chip time, a new PR.  Happy days

At the finish line, and happy to be there

From here I walked to the river and got in.  The water was freezing but me legs felt great for it.  A nice stretch out and walk to cool down and it was back to the car, a quick change and a 1 hour drive home.  Maybe there is something wrong with me but despite the toughness of the course I really enjoyed the event.

The only thing I could fault the organisers for is the t-shirts.  When I came across the line there were no more medium size shirts left so I had to take a large, no biggy.  Apart from this it was a great event.  The route was fantastic  lots of little roads and very scenic.  We passed lots of houses where people were outside cheering us on.  At one house a group of girls had set up their own water stand and were handing out cups.  Although I didn't take any I thanked them for their work.  There was a great buzz and atmosphere about the place the route was well sign posted.  It is a tough run but all the more enjoyable when you finish it.  It is also a small race at the moment with 414 starting it and 409 finishing.  I finished 244.  I hope to be back next year.