North Lincs Half Marathon – Race #23 of 2019

I did not enter this one, I thought it was too close to London Marathon. I had decided to go and support the runners and take photos, and after the event me and Rose were going to spend a night on a campsite in the van.

It was pointed out to me the night before the race that entries were available on the day….

Saturday morning I completed my 100th parkrun, I would have liked to do this at Doncaster but Gainsborough had put the call out for runners to attend and celebrate their 200th event. We took 6 runners and it was nice to see Peter Badger when we arrived.

Gainsborough parkrun is a good tough 3 lap course, an uphill start, an uphill finish and other hills. Good cross country training. Road shoes were fine but off road shoes probably needed in wet weather.

My mile splits were 6:16, 6:17 and 6:23. The elevation gain was around 100m (which is quite a bit for a parkrun). I managed 4th place with 19:25.

On Sunday we arrived after getting a bit lost in the road closures. DAC runners, supporters and dogs everywhere. Put the DAC flag up.

Race tactics were going to be an easy mile, then run harder and see how I felt. It was a bit windy and it felt like a headwind for most of the race. 1st mile was 6:23 and this was the slowest mile.

I caught up to Jordan Street in mile 2 and Jordan is a very good motivator, he helped me when I started to fade. Good bloke always willing to encourage others. I did feel like I still had a bit of London in my legs but i was slightly disappointed not to go sub 80. I finished with 80:40. The course is almost flat, with 60m of elevation gain over 13.1 miles. Mile splits were 6:24 5:43 6:02 6:04 6:09 6:08 6:16 6:14 6:14 6:06 6:07 6:09 6:11. Felt tough from about 6 miles.

Before everyone used Strava everyone used fetcheveryone.com (I still do). Based on the data from North Lincs half this is what it predicts I can do and I have to say its just about spot on (I can beat it for 10 miles and 10km).

Lots of supporters on the course from the club and from other clubs, it is great having a easily recognizable vest, people always give Donny runners a shout.

So that is 3 half marathons so far this year:

DateNameTimePaceAv HRGarmin Length
5 MayNorth Lincs80:406:0815913.17
13 JanBrass Monkey80:446:1015613.11
20 JanFour Villages80:246:0615513.18

North Lincs was a great day for the club, we had an amazing support crew that stayed to support the 1st to finish until the last runner had finished. Lots of DAC PB’s and 1st time half marathon runners. What a great way for Dawn Goodings to celebrate her birthday. Photos by Chris Cull, John Rainsforth and Dave Fieldson.

For me another solid hard training session. My right big toe is in a bit of a state after London so a couple of rest days now.

One of the stand out performances for the day was Rose, my wife (it was our 19th wedding anniversary on the day of the race). Rose ran a 4 minute PB for half marathon (thanks to George Laing for pushing her). Her previous PB was set 4 years ago! Turning in to a vet runner does not slow you down!

Photo by John Atkins
3301:20:40Martin James(M) Vet406:09 min/mile
10901:27:26Adam Cotterill(M) Vet356:40 min/mile
33601:38:57Roy Turton(M) Vet507:33 min/mile
39801:41:28George Laing(M) Vet557:44 min/mile
40401:41:43Rose James(F) Vet407:45 min/mile
41901:42:20Stuart Lindsay(M) Vet407:48 min/mile
45901:44:08Marie-Louise Taylor(F) Vet407:57 min/mile
85101:57:01Natalie Heptinstall(F) Vet458:55 min/mile
87401:57:48Michael Riley(M) Vet508:59 min/mile
105102:05:29Michael Reynolds(M) Senior9:34 min/mile
113802:09:24Martyn Walter(M) Vet559:52 min/mile
114602:09:41Rebecca Henry-Brown(F) Vet659:54 min/mile
119302:12:01Dawn Goodings(F) Vet5010:04 min/mile
119602:12:10Claire Sayles(F) Vet3510:05 min/mile
120502:12:41Julie Cull(F) Vet6010:07 min/mile
125002:14:48Trevor Blake(M) Vet4010:17 min/mile
129402:18:59Darren Whyman(M) Vet4510:36 min/mile
130702:19:25Angie Clarke(F) Vet4010:38 min/mile
132402:20:49Barry Prowse(M) Vet3510:44 min/mile
137702:26:11Claire Macleod(F) Vet4511:09 min/mile
141502:29:34Sam Prowse(F) Vet4011:25 min/mile
142102:30:38Jeannette Walters(F) Vet6011:29 min/mile
143602:32:12Lynette Jenkins(F) Vet5511:37 min/mile
143802:32:13Mark Kenworthy(M) Vet5011:37 min/mile
148502:41:59Sharon Waters(F) Vet5512:21 min/mile
148602:42:08Christopher Waters(M) Vet5512:22 min/mile
152502:55:15Sue May(F) Vet5513:22 min/mile
152602:55:17Michelle Pitts(F) Vet5513:22 min/mile