Adrian to run Adidas Silverstone Half Marathon on 9th March

My marathon preparations will take a further step forward with racing the Adidas Silverstone Half Marathon in March.

There are lots of great halves to choose from at this time of year and having spent much of last year driving past Silverstone on my way to a clients office I really wanted to run this London Marathon organised race on the fast tarmac of the famous old motor racing circuit. The downside is that the course is exposed and if its windy I could be in for a hard morning's work !

Return to winning ways

After missing last weeks cross country championships I was keen to get back into action as soon as possible so substituted a local half marathon race for the long tempo run I had scheduled. It was a strategy regularly used by Steve 'Brace the race' in the 1990s. Pretty much every sunday he was out running a 10k or half marathon as a hard tempo. But you need to be disciplined to make this work !

Blackmore Vale Lions put on a superb race. Efficient number pick up, loads of marshalls, lead vehicle and a speedy results service which puts many professional race to shame.

The best part of 600 people lined up on a cold and windy morning to take on the hilly course. By 2 miles I found myself clear of the field but with the first half of the race into the teeth of the gale I was struggling to even run 5.30 miles. A 5.50 for the uphill 6th mile left me at 33.20 and pretty demoralised as the prospect of breaking the course record looked a distant dream.

In the space of two miles though the dream was back on again as with the wind I my back a couple of sub 5s gave me renewed confidence. Maintaining the pace I was able to reel off the next 6 miles in under 30minutes before facing the final climb up to the finish and a very satisfying 69.11 victory to take the course record bonus.

In the news:
Dorset Echo
Western Gazette

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