Cat Ricketts reports: With marathon training well and truly taking hold, I decided to step up to the plate and enter myself into the Wymondham 20 miler in Norfolk.
I’ve only managed just under 19 miles in training so far and that resulted in tears so I was pretty nervous before the big event!!
I arrived at race HQ with plenty of time to spare and soon realised that a lot of other people hadn’t run the distance before either and were also doing the London Marathon which was encouraging. The weather was pretty cold but dry and not much breeze so ideal conditions for a nice long run out into the countryside!!
The race itself was pretty tough going. I tried not to hare off at the start which is my usual problem and settled into it pretty quickly and managed to keep a steady pace for the first 13 or so miles. The race was almost entirely out in the Norfolk countryside so there was some beautiful scenery along the way to keep me occupied.
The course was gently undulating for most of the way apart from some long steady climbs and a nasty hill at 19 miles which was a bit of a shock! I felt pretty good for quite a while and then hit a bit of a wall at 15 miles where I wondered how I was going to get to the end, it lasted for about 3 miles but amazingly once i reached 18 miles I must have had a rush of adrenalin at the thought of finishing and it saw me through the final 2 miles.
I battled up the hill near the end and thankfully the last section was almost all downhill to the finish line, which I can safely say, I’ve never been happier to see! The support throughout the race was fantastic, as the field of runners wasn’t huge there were quite large gaps between each runner and almost every marshall clapped and encouraged each individual runner which gave me a huge lift!
My aim was under 3 hours and I managed it in 2 hours 45 minutes so I was over the moon and hopefully this will give me great confidence for my marathon.
The event was brilliantly organised and marshalled and although I’m now walking like a robot, I would definitely do it again!
120th | 2:45:48 | RICKETTS, Cat | Bournville Harriers
Results here.
Katie and I spent our Honeymoon on the Norfolk Broads,albeit a few years ago now,and don`t remember seeing any hills!
Congratulations Cat on a very sound run in a most respectable time.Your marathon preparation appears to be going very well.
Barrie Roberts
a hill? blimey – you enter a race in norfolk you kind of expect flat!!
well run cat
Fantastic!! Well done Cat, it’s all coming together xx
Sounds like you had a fantastic run Cat, well done!!!