It was a glorious sunny day on the 2nd March as approximately 2000 runners gathered at the Berkhamsted Cricket Club ready to take on either the 13.1 mile half marathon or the 5 mile fun run.
The Berkhamsted Half Marathon is a beautiful course, it goes through the attractive Chilterns countryside with many great landmarks for runners to pass. The 5 mile fun run seemed extremely popular and does give you a taste of what the Half Marathon is about as a part of the route is shared.
This year was the 42nd annual event organised by the Berkhamsted Rotary Club and every entry helps the Rotary raise funds for various local charities and in particular for Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter (DENS) and two care organisations, the Pepper Foundation and the Hospice of St Francis.
There were plenty of TRC members taking part, here are some of the highlights:
- Becky Raftery won the women’s race and was 26th overall – 01:21:11
- Fraser Willcox was first Tringer home in 11th – 01:17:26
- Tom Moreton was 2nd M50 – 01:24:27
- Christine Lavery was 2nd F50 – 01:39:02
- Lynda Hembury was 1st F60 – 1:35:13
- Maria Cook was 3rd F60 – 01:58:05
- In the fun run, Richard White was 1st M70 – 00:43:01
Congratulations to all the TRC runners who took part.
The full list of TRC results can be found here
Full race results can be found here
My first time Half Marathon experience
The furthest I had ever run was 9.6 miles on the Ridgeway run last October. At that point I was very proud and said that I enjoyed it but that distance was enough and I would never run a half marathon.
Fast forward 5 months and I somehow find myself on the start line of the Berkhamsted Half Marathon with my TRC vest on thinking to myself “what am I doing?”. I had received a lot of encouragement from friends, family and other TRC members that I would be fine but I was still standing there feeling nervous.
As the crowd started to move forward and I got ready to start my watch, I looked around and saw what an amazing community had come together on such a lovely day. There was nothing but smiles and words of encouragement for everyone from those like me running their first Half Marathon to those runners chasing their PBs.
One of my favourite memories of the day was the sense of TRC community, as I was running along I was passed by other members who all gave words of encouragement and you would often hear words from the side lines “come on Tring” which can bring a smile to your face, especially when starting to feel tired.
As I ran along London Road I saw the marker for the 5 mile fun run route and I must admit I was slightly tempted to follow it but I am so glad I didn’t, that was until I took the turn for the Half Marathon route and saw what looked like a never ending series of hills.
I had been a spectator in previous years for the race and I had heard rumours of jelly babies that were handed out on the route and was relieved when it turned out to be true. Who knew the true power of a jelly baby!
Further along the route there was a long stretch of winding country road all downhill, this was absolutely glorious and by far my favourite part of the route with beautiful views of the countryside and I felt you could really take it all in.
I definitely had a lot of ups and downs during my race, at times I really did struggle, but I just remembered the feeling I got after completing the Ridgeway and remembering how I thought I could never run that distance to keep me motivated.
I was asked after the race if a marathon was next on the cards……..
Jen Dixon