Official website - http://www.humber-half.org.uk/

The Humber Half Marathon on Sunday 14th June, turned out to be scorcher of a race, i.e. the Sunny weather won.  Obviously we had been teased by the BBC weather website, 5 days before with rain showers of light to heavy and a reported temperature of between 15-16 degrees was very welcoming, mind you Saturday’s latest update threw this straight off the bridge (excuse the pun) and the latest was 20 and up, plenty of sun and blue sky…...this indicated to me it was not going to be a comfortable day.

The journey on the M62, was straight forward enough (well my car has air-conditioning) with the Humber Half Marathon sign been loud and clear on the turn off for the bridge…….but we missed it!   Anyway after again finding our drop off point for the car (a very large field), we made our way to start in plenty of time, after making use of my factor 30 sun-cream.  Fortunately for us the race start was covered by trees for shade.  The Humber Half is a computer chip timed race, you know the type you run over a couple of mats and something go’s “bleep”.

Back to the race, the first couple of miles is more or less running in and about, streets of Hessle (ducking here and there for shade), through housing estates leading up to the carriageway of the Humber Bridge, which starts just before the 2 mile marker, from here you have a single pathway across the bridge.  On the first section of the bridge it felt crowded though spaces did dwindle out….it really is a long bridge and even though I was not in a particular racing mode, I was enjoying the fact that this structure was and still is a great piece of engineering.  Still the bridge allowed you to stretch out with some speed work, especially for those runners scared of heights.  It’s also very eerie, as your foot hitting the grounds causes a vibration in both the ground and the metal railings, enough for me to take off my earphones to look for what I thought was tug boat making all that noise,,,,but it was me.

Off the actual stretch of the bridge, we hit our first water stop and a sharp climb up the dual carriageway.  From there we continued along country roads (5-6 miles) and through a town or two.  There was plenty of welcome support from well-wishers clapping us on our way.  The sun always brings out the best in people, especially those two little boys with the high powered, pump actioned, jet streamed water rifles (ya little b……s)……honestly due to lack of shade, those people showering us with their garden hosepipes were well appreciated.

There were numerous water stations (not drink stations) on the way, not the greatest of set up’s as they only offered paper cups of water.  There was no Sport drinks or Lucozade offered, even though Lucozade was down as a sponsor?.

Coming to mile 9 was hard work (where did this hill come from)…..from here there was a climb and due to the heat, runners turned into walkers.  This hilly section felt a long stretch and it was a very good feeling when we came off this part and joined the carriageway section again….running slightly downhill with a breeze hitting you was great until you turned the corner and had the magnicent view of the bridge but you could see you were running down into a dip and you could view the long upwards climb and then onto the bridge……which itself looked a steady climb as well. 

For some reason the return journey over the bridge felt longer (I wonder why), this hotspot was not for me and I was keen to get over, especially noticing that the St Johns Ambulance personnel were very busy with numerous collapsed runners.  The last half mile stretch from the bridge leads into the car-park and the finish line.  Quiet relieved to have finished, you could tell the heat was starting to take its toll.  After collecting my medal, t-shirt (top quality for painting the house with) and my tango tan….one could enjoy on-site refreshments of bottled water, tea, coffee, fruits and cakes… .sadly no Lucozade or sport drinks?.

We took an ex Dragon Martin Landells who achieved a 24th position on 1:26:14, Siu Wah came in at 1:38:58……..while I limped in with a top facial tan and a time of 1:58:00 and the good fortune of being told by the lady marshall who provided me with my XL t-shirt and those kind words when she said that I must have sweated a few pounds to fit in that…….I think that was compliment?!.  Certainly not the best of races for PB, but a real tester of endurance, but as of late with a number of races the sunny weather has been extreme, but again it certainly brings out the crowds to support you ….and wonder why you are mad?.

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