Cardiff Half Marathon 2013

So it looks as though this year will be the biggest yet with 19,000 entrants!

This will be my first year running the race and my first big city half marathon. Looking forward to the atmosphere and buzz on race day. This is 2 weeks before my first marathon (Abingdon), so no PB for me, doubt that would be possible really with the amount of runners!

Who else is running and has anyone run it before?

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Comments

  • Yes I'm running it, first time for me (well, my first half marathon even).

    Really looking forward to it now. I'm also doing the Swansea Bay 10k this Sunday too.

    Good luck to you and to everyone else entering! image

  • T RexT Rex ✭✭✭

    That's a coincidence - I'm doing Cardiff and Abingdon like you, Jamie.  With 19000 runners it is going to be very busy.if it's the same route as 2012 then the roads will take it but there is a narrow stretch between miles 5 and 6.  Not done the half in Cardiff before but ran the marathon the five times they had one.

    Would suggest having accommodation in the city the night before and walking to the start.

     

  • I'm hoping that not all 19,000 runners turn up; big events normally see a large number of no-shows on the day for one reason or another.

    Did they do a wave release last year or was it pretty much a free for all at the start line?

  • Free for all at the start, organisation is terrible. Have done it 4 time and its got worse every time, wont do it again. Plenty better for less money.
  • Good luck at Abingdon then T Rex.

    I think they are assingning people to waves this year as we had to enter our expected finish time when entering.

  • I did one of the older routes in 2011 and I recall signs for each pace, but nothing to separate the the different groups. I was hoping it had changed for the better but oh well.

    Another reason why I suspect they may not go for waves is because the roads are all due to reopen by 12pm. Waves would add further delay to this.

  • Just got my race pack this morning.  Green pen this year so hopefully that should get rid of some of the congestion issues from last year - the biggest crowd will be in yellow.

  • I'm running this one too. The biggest event I've participated in. I studied in Cardiff and I'm looking forward to running around a city I've grown fond of.

    Regardless of the start pen situation I will enjoy it and I'm sure I'll get through the early congestion without stressing about it!

  • Hopefully my race pack has arrived as well then and fingers crossed I'm not in the yellow wave. Why is that the biggest yer_maj?

    I done the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest 10k in Cardiff last year and the route around the bay was really nice, so looking forward to going further around the city. I'm the same as you mattywarr, I'm just going to enjoy it and not stress about it too much.

    Good luck everyone!

  • Jamie, it's the pen for all those whose target time was 2 hours plus.  The pen you're in depends on the estimated time you put down when you entered the race.  I'm aiming for 1:55 so I'm in green.

  • My number arrived today too. Yellow for me, so fits in to what has been said above!

  • It's going to be my first half marathon, pretty excited! Hopefully my race pack will be at home when I get there, I can't remember what I said my time would be. Going for 1:50, but from what you guys have said that may depend on what pen I am in.

    Did the Cardiff 10k a couple of weeks ago which was really good fun. My first race and was pleased with how I did.

  • another doing cardiff and abingdon but not racing either as haven't got over 5 miles recently

  • Received my race pack and I'm fuming that they've put me in the green wave. Called the office up and by their own admission, the waves are:

    White - Sub-1:30

    Orange - Sub-1:45

    Green - Sub-2:10

    Yellow - Sub-2:20

    I'm a sub-1:33 runner so something has gone horribly wrong. Whilst the start lines may be a free for all, I'd still like to have the right colour bib to begin with in case some jobsworth stops me from going up a wave.

    Sods law, they'll give me a new bib which won't register as me when I cross the start and finish lines...

     

  • thought they said no going up a wave whatever

    what colour do you get if you are slower than 2:20

  • Sorry, what I meant to write was yellow was for anybody that finishes after 2:10 but had a brain fart moment.

    I'd contacted their office and they said they would see what they could do to change my bib colour, though highlighting that they were "very busy at the moment". They wouldn't be so busy if their systems got things right the first time!

  • Looks like they did what they said on Facebook and posted them on Monday as I had mine today!

    Green 10123 - I like that number it reeks of PB potential! image

    'A'  Target: Sub 1h57
    'B' Target: Sub 2h00
    'C' Target: Sub 2h06m41s (PB)

    Anything longer than that and I'm throwing myself off the barrage!

  • Speaking of bib colours, I'm now in a dilemma. I'm happy to be in the green Pen, but my training partner is more than likely going to be yellow. I think she'll be faster than 2h10 but think she put 2h20 as her target.

    So I either need to be nice, drop back a pen and put up with congestion and weaving round faster runners and risk missing out on my own personal targets...

    ... Or I be a total bastard and leave her to run on her own for the first few miles (We have agreed we'd run at the same pace for the first couple to check I don't go ut to fast)

    Anyone have any ideas how to handle the situation??

  • If it were me, I'd go off on my own after the initial mile or two. Your expected finish times are at least 15 minutes apart and you don't want to hold yourself back if you're feeling good.

    Just say you're really game for a big PB and want to take the opportunity whilst it presents itself. Most folks only get to run a half marathon 2 - 3 times a year.

  • Nice idea!

    I think I'm going to play it "Oh no... We have to start in different places! What a bummer! I guess thats cos you've got a slower finish time than me. I can drop back a pen if you like, I'm sure I'll be able to get through the slower runners quickly enough!"

    She's a nice girl so I'm sure she'll say "No don't worry, go get your PB". Otherwise I'll play the "Only get 2 opportunities a year" card

  • Still waiting for my race pack, but hopefully it will come in the next few days, being towards the end of the alphabet I am used to waiting for things.  As I seem to recall in the past few years it has been fairly easy to switch between starting pens (especially if you are nimble enough to jump the barrier).

    Not sure which pen I will be in this year as I can't remember what time I put down but due to lack of training I am not going to be racing this year.  This will be the 11th Cardiff Half for me but having an 8 month old baby has meant that I have not been out for longer than an hour since the last Cardiff Half but I am hoping to get a 1hr30 run in this weekend to build confidence.

  • Hmmmm I think I'll make sure I'm at the front of the green pen...

  • I would not be overly concerned because whilst the first couple of miles will be busy by the time we get to the Bay the crowds have usually thinned out so you can start to do some ducking and weaving to get a bit of pace going.  However the problem I found last year was once we got back to civilisation (along Richmond Road around 8 miles) the crowds were so big they kept creeping on to the road which meant us runners struggled to get through as we kept gettting in their way. 

  • Had an update from the organisers regarding the bib colour fiasco.

    They've had plenty of calls regarding incorrect bib colours against race finish times, so it's not an isolated case. They said they're compiling a list of everybody that's voiced a problem and will see how many have been affected by the middle of next week; they'll then come up with a solution which can surely only be reissuing correctly coloured bibs?

    If they just say to go in whatever the correct pen should be for me, then that makes a mockery of the entire system, even if that may actually be what happens in reality anyway.

  • This will be the 5th one i have done, the first 2 years the organization was great but the last 2 were shambolic, last year i was still trying to go past "power walkers" at 3 miles. Hopefully the colour coding may make a difference. * crosses fingers*

  • Hi there!

    I hope everyone who took part in this years Admiral Swansea Bay 10k had a great day!  What was it like?  If you have an opinion; good or bad then I'd love to hear from you on our race listings page :

    http://rhedeg.co.uk/races_and_events/admiral-swansea-bay-10k/

    Help other runners for next year!  Many thanks and happy running!

  • I'm hoping that the slow start will be a blessing in disguise so I can hit 13 negative splits!

  • Heard of an update from the grapevine regarding incorrect bib colours. Apparently, they'll be issuing coloured wristbands to those that have been affected, which seems like a decent solution. Saves any potential problems introduced by producing new bibs with built in timing chips etc. Hopefully they'll get it right this time!

  • T RexT Rex ✭✭✭

    I've got an orange number.  I think I put 1:44 on the entry form which was clearly a sound move!  (I did it because T Rex jnr put 1:45 ...)

     

    Hope everyone's training has gone OK.  

     

    I'm still debating whether to do a LDWA marathon-length challenge event the day before or not.  May come down to what the weather's like!

  • Got my race pack yesterday and I am a green number this year. Looking at the bands that seems about right (I can't remember what time I optimistically put down when I entered) but due to lack of long runs I think I will be aiming for around the 2:00 mark but will hopefully be able to squeeze a bit of pace and finish a bit earlier.
    Planning a few shorter runs this week and plan to cycle to work next week, which should hopefully keep things ticking over.

    All that remains is to keep fingers cross that we get good weather on the day and load up on carbs next week.

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