On Sunday I took part in the Bungay Half Marathon which luckily I was pacing my brother round and not racing. The half marathon was one lap which started 2 hours after the full marathon which was two laps.
However when we started the half marathon after midday it was already hot. Then there was the unexpected amount of hills which lasted to about 6 miles!! From my GPS there was 40% of the course was not flat despite being in East Anglia. The way back part of the loop was virtually flat with a nice cooling breeze. For the last couple of miles it was along a gravel path.
Despite the undulating course for the first 8 miles we maintained a fairly even pace but after this the distance, hills and heat started to affect my brother so we had to slow down and then take walk breaks. However we managed it in under 2:20 which was good for the conditions.
I had 3 layers (no long sleeve top) in the heat plus a hat to help simulate the likely warmer conditions for the ironman. My nutrition for the run was spot on for both of us, we had a sports drink (I add a salt tablet) and two gels which were used regular intervals between the water stations. It was also to get this amount of time on my feet as I will not likely go beyond this time or distance in the training.
Still due to heat after eating a banana and downing a bottle of water we got at the finish I still needed cooling down, so only an ice cream would do :-)
The race like their other races was well organised, marshalled and plenty of well manned water stops. I will definitely be back to do this or even the full marathon.
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