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Cardiff Half-Marathon 2010
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My friend has unfortunatley had to pull out but she knew a few weeks ago. She contacted the organisers and was told that she couldn't transfer or defer.
Its not like she hasn't suffered enough having to deal with her illness and being unable to work full time, that they wouldn't let her defer or transfer.
If they allowed transfers and charged a small admin fee they would even make more money out of it.
Oh, and good luck everyone.
Agree witht he above sentiment,changing details on the day can be a bind but should still be straightforward in these days of chips and gizmos!
Just don't go swapping numbers though, it is still a naughty!
Enjoy tomorrow,enjoy life,enjoy running!!!!
"Stronger together"
How did you all do?
I was 1h 49m 35s on the clock
My son was 1h 18m 24s!!!
Sis in law Sarah 2h 5m
Lovely course,weather wonderful.A couple of niggles about the finish but there will never be a race that doesn't have it's problems.
See you all next year!!!
The course was truly horrific this year. Way way too many runners for a really narrow course at some points. There shouldn't still be bottlenecks at 6 miles and over, and I didn't manage to hit the steady speed I wanted until about 7 miles. Less runners would have made this a far more enjoyable run, as scenically it was a great route. The starting pens were well marked out, but too small for the amount of people who wanted to fit into them, maybe an enforced pen system like other races - Great South or London Marathon - where they are based on your realistic finish time rather than where you want to start. Too many people started further forward than they needed just to get ahead of the rest, and if you start at the correct point for your expected finish time you shouldn't expect to pass 10's of people walking within the first 2 miles.
The water stations were a lot better laid out this year with water on both sides of the track, leading to a lot less safety incidents, and I know you are limited by who your sponsors are, but sports bottles would be so much easier, and cause less problems with water flying everywhere when people chuck them out of the way, especially through the park where it got quite slippery.
I hated the first 7 miles of this race, totally frustrated that I couldn't run at a pace I was happy with, forever dodging around people, but once that was over I started to relax into it. I gained a personal best by 12 and a half minutes, but that was due to my increased fitness levels this year after upping my distance to marathons, and not due to the course, and I do wonder how much better I could have done if there had been more room to run in.
I would have loved this race with less runners, but I guess with commercial pressures that's never gonna happen. It's my 6th year running it, and even with living in Cardiff, I'm not sure I'll be back next year if it is going to be the same.
Other half loved the course and knocked out 1:17:18, a PB by 3 mins. A few other friends also commented on preferring this course to that of previous years.
Even in the sub-1:20 crowd you got some people who obviously had quite an optimistic view of their finish time but you have to expect that in big road races like this. The field seemed quite spread out until you get to the 2-hour+ runners when it did look a bit chocker.
Amusing to watch people start sprinting from the back of Kemis, who obviously hadn't read the race pack, just to find the finish was nowhere near and they still had over half a mile left. LOL
Agree with the sentiments regarding deferring or transferring places. Surely in this day and age with that much technology (and all the new Lloyds TSB funding) they can do a bit better than that. If London can manage with just a 'few' more runners than that then why can't Cardiff. When I enquired about deferring or transfer I got the "computer says no" response, but at the same time they wanted me to say whether I'd be running or not because they had a waiting list and wanted to sell my number a 2nd time... er... so they CAN transfer when they can cash in on it, so I thought sod you and sold my place to a colleague... and until they get their act together and allow deferments of transfers people will continue to do so.
Sarah, I totally agree with you. I started a bit back from the 1.45 marker based on a time of 1.49 last year. For the first 3 miles I couldn't get past a 9 min mile because of the crowds and I was flying past people! What on earth were they doing starting so far up. Definitely too many people for the course which is such a shame because everthing else was really good, and what weather!!
Did anyone see the mile markers, I only spotted mile 3, and once I finished I saw mile 12 walking back to the car, lol.
Oh, and the finish, that long run down with the finish on the other side, argh, I just kept thinking when are we turning round!!
Got sub 1:45 for the first time, if only by 5 seconds, so can't say I didn't enjoy the day. I agree with other postings about the congestion - and mile markers are a pretty basic requirement, especially for those who haven't yet upgraded to a GPS watch. It's a good event though and I'd recommend it. Noticeably faster course than my other favourites: Bristol, Reading and Sheffield.
I totally agree with everyone on the fact the course was not big enough for the amount of runners. I shall be saying "Coming through" in my sleep tonight. Did not settle into it until mile 7.
I also want to comment on the "towel" that was not a towel, it was a flannel..... Obviously they wanted you to buy the t-shirts for £15. Nice medal though.
I started in the area for over 2.5 hours but overtook the 3.5 hour pacer after a mile. That should not have been poss surely?
Being a plodder, I never get caught in the masses so I had plenty of room because we were so spread out.
I ran this the year of the stadium finish and a friend did it last year. I think this year has been the best so far
I achieved a Season's Best and a Personal Achievement, so I will be back next year
Overall a great event which I really enjoyed today - I do agree about the congestion for the first 5 miles, the paths in the park were far too narrow for the amount of people but from mile 6 onwards the roads did open out a bit. Thought the course was fantastic and really appreciated the support from the crowds. The last mile seemed to go on forever, particulary the stretch before turning back towards the finsh line. Time 1:40.20 PB so a a good day.
Yes - We did notice the missing bit. Careful mapping suggests that the missing bit would have added between 0.15 and 0.17 miles. From most distances I have seen posted from Garmins, add that on and it would have put it into the normal 'margin of error' zone. Worth around 60 seconds at 1:30 up to 80-90 seconds at 2 hours - roughly.
Not sure about being that slowed by "numpties" in the 1:45 zone. I was about 5 yards behind the 1:45 board at the start. Yes it was a bit of a scrum for the first 2 miles, but I still went through in sub 8:10. Fourth mile was a bit slow because of the path behind Tescos - that was a bit tight and the ground either side not suitable for running. But after 4 miles I can't say that I felt baulked at all - yes it was quite busy, but never so much as to really affect.
Yeah I meausured 12.98miles and it does take away some of the joy of getting a new PB, although I took 3:20 off my last PB it so I'm stil reallyl pleased. Taking my average pace of the race, I would have finished around 50s later.
The trouble is, of course, that it will be a lot harder for me to get a new PB as I will have to run faster than I actually ran!
I guess it balances out though, for two years at Edinburgh marathon I have measured 26.45miles and I don't believe that is down to weaving.
The course was much better than last year, IMO. I was disappointed with the congestion at the start, many of the runners inbetween 1:45 and 1:30 were running very slowly - a 2hr pace. I only found this to be a problem for 2-3 miles though and I really enjoyed the rest of the course.
Finally, that is not a towel!
I think I started too far back, but found it impossible to get further forward. I was planning to do 7:30 min/mile all the way, but couldn't start clocking that until mile 5. Last years race was my first half and found it a lot easier to go my pace. This year it took me to mile 9 to overtake the 1:45 pacer and he was only about 20 yards in front of me at the start.
Still I got my PB and broke the 1:40 (just). I will try and start further up next time though as those first 5 miles did my head in.
The running through Hayes was chaotic, there was no barriers to keep us in which meant people were trying to overtake each other. At one point there were people running through the seating area of Costa Coffee on St John Street.
That was the 6 time I've done this race but I don't think I will do it next year if it is going carry on like this.
I found it to over croweded, spentmost of my time finding rotes to get past people, not good !!!. I did think it was to much about get the people in for the money. Go back to the centre of town route was more space. Also let limit number guys. " Would I do it if it was not so near to me again ?" Probly not with all the coses of races around.
Pleases take our coments, and use them Cardiff orgnisers.
Will there be official acknowledgement that we ran a short course that deviated from the measured, published route?
It is often down to the route you actually follow,weaving in and out of a group of people adds distance don't forget,so unless you were all running in a dead straight racing line I think the argument of not hving run a proper half yesterday is not a viable one.
Unless of course the organisers prove us wrong!
<pops into thread>
Noticed on eightlane that at the moment the view is the course was short because a small section was left out (there's a link to a san domenico rc forum discussion on the eightlane thread) and at the moment it's being listed on thepowerof10 as a short course pending an enquiry. Absolutely gutted for those who ran yesterday - a friend of mine ran a huge pb after a really tough year...
I really enjoyed the race and although it was busy didn't get too held up in congestion. The only part which must be changed for next year is the Hayes section (1-2 miles in). I ran a time of 1:41 and the Hayes was just a sea of runners from side to side. If there was any course marking you couldn't see it as it was impossible to anything below shoulder height, and there are loads of obstacles such as pedestrians, street 'art', bollards, tables and chairs. It was also very slippery, probably due to the quick hosing down of the previous night's excesses and the cold weather.
I was one of the runners who ran though the seating area of Costa Coffee, but not on purpose. You couldn't see it until you were on top of it and don't really expect it in the middle of the course. I didn't really have a problem with congestion elsewhere, and always like the park sections. The new pedestrian bridge and Barrage were fantastic. Although I did think it was a little dangerous at the top of the park on the road section near Tesco. One half of the carriageway packed with jostling runners, separated by tape from cars going full speed in the opposite direction.
The organisation at the start and finish was the best I have known in a race. Plenty of toilets with baggage drop-off and reclaim within seconds. The support on the course was also fantastic and the best I can remember for the race. The Grangetown section is usually the dullest part of the course to look at, but the crowds there gave it a really great atmosphere.
There was a 3.5 hour 'pacer'...??!
Interesting... No 1:15 pacer at the front but you need to pace people to get round 13 miles (give or take from the discussion) in walking pace?
I think there were both positives and negatives from this year’s that can be taken from this year’s race
- The organisers clearly listened with regard to baggage collection; last year I was queueing for nearly an hour to pick up my stuff, this year it was a matter of minutes.
- The village down in the bay gave it a ‘big event’ feel for me, as did the sheer amount of people.
- Whilst a bit crowded in places, I enjoyed the new course; plenty of variety in terms of scenery
- The crowd support was blummin’ marvellous – they were people cheering and giving support all over the place
f they can just get the starter pens sorted properly for next year, that would be marvellous. Too many people seem to think they can start anywhere rather than in their projected times, which can be potentially dangerous more than anything else.
Oh, and if Red Dragon could turn down their music whilst the announcements are going on that would be great – I was near the speakers by 1:45 area and couldn’t hear anything.
I set a PB of 1:57:06 last, and annihilated this year by coming in at 1:43:13. Was chuffed to bits with that, so it’s disappointing to hear about the short course problems.