Barns Green Half-Marathon

......... but it'll be worth the wait!

Ran this in 2007, and scraped under two hours. Been injured for ages, but getting back into running now. This'll be my target half for the Autumn.

Anyone want to join me on the training journey to this race?

Comments

  • This is one of my vavourite races. I've just entered. Will be my 4th go at this (missed last year through injury). Got a PB there in 2007, so will be hoping to beat that.
  • Just been taking a look - is it a welcoming race for beginners?  I've not raced a half before but should be able to drag myself round in 2.15 or so with some training as long as I'm not going to look to silly.

    Is anyone planning on heading down from London for this?!  Already looking to grab a lift!!

  • I'd say that this race is fine for any level of runner. You won't be running alone at 2:15. Take a look at the results from previous years.
  • Alas still recovering from injury so will have to miss this now.

    DEFINITELY a welcoming race for beginners. Just be prepared for the couple of climbs! Not sure if the map of mine that they published on the website includes a profile, but there is a couple of nasty hills that may take you by surprise. Despite those, I'd reccomend this race to anybody, experiended or not.

  • Sorry to hear you won't be doing it RW - you were obviously looking forward to it.

    I looked at the map - thanks for putting it on the website!  The profile link still works and it looks a bit more hilly than anything I've done in the past.  All my runs are along the river so nice and flat.

    Going up to the lakes in a few weeks and might give the running route from the Helvelyn tri a bash - if I can manage that then I should be ok with anything!

  • i love this race. i was my first ever half a couple of years ago and do it every year... a great local event, I see lots of people I know there.

    Hoping I will be injury free by the time this comes around since had a dreaful summer with problems with my knees...

  • I'm running this as my 1st half marathon.  Are there sports drinks/gels available on the way round?  If not, should I take something round with me, or don't I really need it?  Thanks for your advice.
  • I did ths race last year as my first half marathon and trained hard but under estimated the hills towards the end of the course (approx last 3-4 miles!) which battered me!!!  Only water provided along the route with the odd jelly baby handed out by spectators so make sure that you have a few gel packs on you, take on water and do not get carried away with the pace at the front!!!! 

    There are easier half marathons for beginners but the route is stunning and the support from the spectators is awesome!  Only bad point is the road traffic getting to the event and the parking on fields if it has been wet, so make sure you get there early!

  • Hi all

     I ran this 3 years back and loved it ......superb autumn colours - lots of little country lanes .......it is a bit bumpy in places but no big climbs ( i guess you'd call it rolling) .........

     There are different schools of thought on if it's worth taking gels during the race .......I personally don't because I've done a few Marathons so I "get" the shorter distance without having to take on extra carbs ......... my advice would be to try it in trainning and see what works for you ( also depends on how easily you can take it while on the move) ....would recomend taking on as much water as you can at each of the water stations for  the slower runners it might be worth walking thru the water stations and that way you can drink the water without spilling all over the place

     Cheers

    D

  • Are there loos on the way round? image
  • There are many bushes !!!!.....

    There are Loos at Christ's Hospital and there must be pubs along the way that would let you make a "pit stop"

  • Looks like I'm out of this now through injuryimage, in case anyone needs a spare number.
  • hi i have entered this with my mate, both a little worried about the hills..how bad are they and how many of them? is it the kind of half where unless you are a regular hill runner you will struggle to get close to a PB? thanks
  • HI

    I entered this race when i thought i could train enough to run the whole thing...

    now i have my race number, and i don't want to back out,,, i even forgot i was meant to be doing it!!!

    I am ready to run 9 miles by Nov 1st, i'm doing an 8 this week and next week and would be due a 9 for my saturday long run...

    any advice about if I wanted to run walk run walk run????????????

    I could run 2 miles walk 1 run 2 walk 1 run 2 walk 1 etc or i could walk the last third of each mile, ie whenever my garmin says .66 anything.....

    any thoughts about this?  I would love to do it just to do it

    Katherine

  • Evening all, I'm doing this with Taggy Gee and Trots... looking forward to it. image

    Greentigress, if you can run 9 miles, you will be able to do 13 on the day. Run walking is a good strategy to get you round though... a lot of people who are waaaaaayyyy faster than me do that for most races. You just have to find whats right for you. image

  • Hi Cabbey,

    Thanks image for the vote of confidence!!

    I should be able to run 9 miles in a couple weeks time image the 31st Oct is when i was due to run my first 9 miler, so i'm not quite used to the distances Yet, but i should be able to run 9 miles by the 1st

    or run walk run this half ... I will see how my 2x 8 milers go and make a decision then!!

    I am comfortable with 7 at the moment, I hope this doesn't make you want to change your mind about the advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    but honest answers appreciated

    Katherine

  • They actually say that if you can run 8 miles comfortably, a half marathon is ok so I'm sure you will be totally fine. Have you considered doing 1 x 8 mile and 1 x 9 as opposed to the 2 lots of 8? It might give you confidence before the day
  • This is going to be my first half for a couple of years! A week away and I'm actually a little nervous about it. This is all part of the grand plan to get in good shape before Christmas to really 'enjoy' training for the London Marathon in April. Hopefully the nerves will have morphed into excitement by the time Sunday arrives!
  • Green Tigress

     would deff do it .......agree with cabby you should be fine to run the whole thing .....however if you do decided to run walk i would do it right from the start ...say run for 4 mins then walk for 1 ...if you wait until you are tired to do the walking then it's already too late ............

    Jean Jeanie - you'll love it as soon as the run goes off - once you get moving all the nerves go

     Cheers

     D

  • Thanks for this David. Going for a little leg stretch now to check everything working for tomorrow!
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