Gone with the wind
“What are we going to do this weekend?”
“I’m not sure. Fancy a run on Sunday?”
“OK. There is that 20 miler in Lydd”
“Great, book it!”
Well that was the gist of how John and I came to
be entered for an event on one of the windiest days of the year. With gusts of
86mph reported along the coast, it’s fair to say the weather was challenging.
The Lydd 20 had been on our radar but, with a trail marathon in 2 weeks, we hadn’t planned to do it. However, there we were, with 1000 other runners, sheltering from gale force winds in a hut on the Romney Marshes.
Just before the 10am start the marquee took off and had to be retrieved by a team of scouts and marshals. There were reports of fallen trees and seagulls were flying backwards above our heads.
We headed off along the country lanes into the face of the gale. I used others as shields and echelons formed along the route. Just half a mile in and we came across the first tree blocking our path. Marshalls bravely held it back to give enough room for us to funnel through in single file.
Before the race I had set my mind on 8-minute mile pace. In the car with the wind buffeting against the chassis we had altered this to 9’s. Two miles in we were running sub 8’s into the wind. Surely we couldn’t keep that up.
The miles passed quickly and we were joined by Justin from Folkestone Road Runners. Now settled into a rhythm we continued to battle the gusts and began passing people.
At 6.5 miles the route split with 20 miles turning right and the half-marathoners continuing straight on. The two events were being run simultaneously. The leading half marathoners had already passed us on their way back.
We now began to loop around which brought some respite and following wind. At 10 miles we turned and headed back the way we had come. With the wind at our backs the pace lifted, and I felt strong. A woman who had been running with us began to pull away and I decided to stick with her.
Her name was Karla and she was training for London. I was struggling to keep up and soon realised why when she told me she was a sub 3 marathoner. I dropped back and she disappeared into the distance. We had been running sub 7’s.
At this point I had pulled away from John and Justin so I stopped and stretched while I allowed John to catch up. There was just 3 miles left to run. John had been struggling but began to lift the pace. I struggled to keep up as we again turned into the wind.
One mile to go and we were flat out to the finish. John finished 4 seconds ahead and we had both crossed the line in 2h 30m at an average pace of sub 7:30 min miles with significant weather factors.
We were both spent but delighted with our performance. We finished 81st and 82nd out of 688.
The Lydd 20 had been on our radar but, with a trail marathon in 2 weeks, we hadn’t planned to do it. However, there we were, with 1000 other runners, sheltering from gale force winds in a hut on the Romney Marshes.
Just before the 10am start the marquee took off and had to be retrieved by a team of scouts and marshals. There were reports of fallen trees and seagulls were flying backwards above our heads.
We headed off along the country lanes into the face of the gale. I used others as shields and echelons formed along the route. Just half a mile in and we came across the first tree blocking our path. Marshalls bravely held it back to give enough room for us to funnel through in single file.
Before the race I had set my mind on 8-minute mile pace. In the car with the wind buffeting against the chassis we had altered this to 9’s. Two miles in we were running sub 8’s into the wind. Surely we couldn’t keep that up.
The miles passed quickly and we were joined by Justin from Folkestone Road Runners. Now settled into a rhythm we continued to battle the gusts and began passing people.
At 6.5 miles the route split with 20 miles turning right and the half-marathoners continuing straight on. The two events were being run simultaneously. The leading half marathoners had already passed us on their way back.
We now began to loop around which brought some respite and following wind. At 10 miles we turned and headed back the way we had come. With the wind at our backs the pace lifted, and I felt strong. A woman who had been running with us began to pull away and I decided to stick with her.
Her name was Karla and she was training for London. I was struggling to keep up and soon realised why when she told me she was a sub 3 marathoner. I dropped back and she disappeared into the distance. We had been running sub 7’s.
At this point I had pulled away from John and Justin so I stopped and stretched while I allowed John to catch up. There was just 3 miles left to run. John had been struggling but began to lift the pace. I struggled to keep up as we again turned into the wind.
One mile to go and we were flat out to the finish. John finished 4 seconds ahead and we had both crossed the line in 2h 30m at an average pace of sub 7:30 min miles with significant weather factors.
We were both spent but delighted with our performance. We finished 81st and 82nd out of 688.
