On Sunday 29th January, John and I did the Hemel 12 miler in Hemel Hempstead organised by the Gade Valley Harriers Running Club. Our Comets RRC chair Alan Johnson who lives nearby in Kings Langley jogged 3 miles from his house to the start
to send us off before jogging for another 3 miles home.
Since it was a training run for those who are in the preparation of the London Marathon (or Brighton, Manchester, Paris, Düsseldorf, Milton Keynes…. all take place in April/May), there was no time chipping or official photographer. Apart from that, it feels like a proper running race with marshals (all of them are very friendly !!), water stations (plus an extra very welcoming jelly babies station 3 miles before the finish), clear mile marks, post run cakes and hot beverages, changing and shower facilities etc etc. All these come only a small entry fee of £5. It is extremely good value for money.
The official start time was 9:30am but since I needed to go to Trafalgar Square to help out at the Met Police Chinese & South East Asian Staff Association’s stand in the Chinese New Year celebration event, I decided to start an hour earlier. John also joined me for an early start as he thought it was a good idea to avoid the queue heading on to the canal footpath shortly after the start. Sometimes it could take a couple of minutes in the queue above the stairs.
It was cold on that morning but nowhere near as freezing cold as the week before in the St. Albans Fred Hughes 10 miler. This time I put on my neck warmer just in case if the air was too cold, I could use it to cover my mouth. The tow path was surprisingly dry but the country lanes were quite icy and wet. I nearly fell between mile 6 and 7. Fortunately, I managed to keep my balance to stay upright. This is a well renowned hilly course, but as a training run for the marathon, it was fantastic as a fitness and confidence builder. I do this event more for the distance rather than the time because this is never ever a PB course. So, I was not to
o disappointed to have finished in 2:05’55” (or 10’29” min/mile pace). I will definitely do the 17 miler at the end of February and the 20 miler at the end of March. John finished in 2:23′ and he was quite pleased. He was only doing it for fitness not for the preparation of Marathon.