From Sally Armitage…
I had an amazing day at Ilkley Half yesterday! What an event, meticulously planned and executed with 100% focus on competitor enjoyment and safety. With 99.9% of the town behind the event the spectator support is unreal and is a huge part of the experience.
I took a long time for me to enter, mostly because I knew I’d be way off my finish time 2 years ago and felt I would only finish disappointed with my performance. I was wrong, I had a brilliant run and finished feeling on top of the world! I set myself new goals, I’d aimed for a top 5 finish and a finish time of 1:25, which I then adjusted to 1:30 due to the conditions. My first run of the new route, I can’t say I enjoyed the lap of town, it makes for a slightly tougher start, but I was swiftly dragged around by the faster runners and the crazy support in town is a real boost.
I ran the entire race with my old rival Sarah Flaherty of Bingley Harriers which worked beautifully, we’re running at the same pace now and had a silent agreement to go steady on the hills and the long sunny stretches and I stayed comfortable throughout the race. Running shoulder to shoulder along the home straight, a final push just metres from the finish line edged me a second in front to nab 5th place in 1:29.
I hope everyone else managed to pace it well too and survived the day, it was tough in those conditions but incredibly enjoyable. Sometimes I wonder if part of me slowing down a bit now (aside from the advancing years) is because I just don’t want to push out of my comfort zone anymore, and I have to say I quite like it.
1st male Jack Cummings Ilkley Harriers 1:09:09
1st female Lauren McNeil Hallamshire Harriers 1:12:15
1895 ran