Laura Leslie reports on the ‘Stroud Half Marathon’, 26th Oct ’14. Plus results & photos

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stroud_half_2014_1I’ve done two half-marathons in the past with neither being fun or rewarding (!) and I’d been talking about putting the whole “I hate half-marathons” to bed for some time now. I picked the Stroud half-marathon because it is  much smaller than the B’ham half (and much cheaper!) and only an hours drive away. I was pleasantly surprised to find out  there would also be some team-mates there on the day.

I would recommend this half-marathon, it’s small (1100 runners this year) so very little weaving round people, but unless you’re in the top 20 you will undoubtedly still have other runners around you throughout the race. It was very well marshalled and the support around the course was excellent, especially with it being in such a rural location. It also seemed to be quite an important local event with loads of people cheering the runners on from outside their houses and at all the major junctions.

The course was undulating, with one fairly big hill mile 6 to 7. This was quite energy sapping, especially with the head on wind but it was a nice course overall. I found the last few miles fairly tortuous, though I’ve been told this is normal, and the final uphill to the finish line made me want to cry! But I was over the moon to finish in just over 1:38, which knocks nearly 5 minutes off my pb.

Matt Cook and Caroline Harlan-Marks achieved fantastic pbs, and it was great to see Dean back to racing after a Summer plagued by injuries, and Chris H-M running another solid race consolidating his top Summer fitness levels.

The official race charity was Teckles Animal Sanctuary which I thought was wonderful, and I was very grateful to my parents, husband Paul and dog Mitzi for their support. It was lovely to see Jo and Hannah there supporting Dean and Matt also.

I don’t think the half-marathon will ever be my favourite distance, but I’m glad to finally finish a half with a smile 🙂

Full results here

Firstname Lastname Age cat Chip Time Age cat Gun Position Overall Chip Position Club
Matt Cook MSEN 01:15:19 7 7 Bournville Harriers PB!
Dean Parker M40 01:18:33 2 11 Bournville Harriers
Caroline Harlan-Marks F35 01:25:34 2 53 Bournville Harriers PB!
Chris Harlan-Marks MSEN 01:33:19 61 146 Bournville Harriers
Laura Leslie FSEN 01:38:03 9 233 Bournville Harriers PB!

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6 Replies to “Laura Leslie reports on the ‘Stroud Half Marathon’, 26th Oct ’14. Plus results & photos”

  1. Chris really appreciated having his photo taken by the looks of this reaction, lol 🙂

  2. Well done everyone, fantastic times set by all, looks like a great teal team outing.

  3. Thankyou for your Stroud Half Marathon Race Report Leslie. Splendid runs by all the BvHers,with commendable Age Cat/Overall Chip Positions. A lovely post Race photograph.

  4. Well done everyone who ran and thanks so much for the support on the course too, it really made a difference over the last mile

  5. Very well done to you all 🙂 It was really cool to watch. Great performances and a great race. What a fantastic atmosphere at the 33d Stroud half! Brilliant event…. Well done Laura for such a big pb and getting a half done that you can be proud of 🙂