Bath Half

The weather has been really bad here this week and on Friday we finally accepted that camping in Bath this weekend was not going to be feasible, so I cancelled our booking at the campsite. We decided instead that we would drive up to Bath on Sunday morning for the race. We were up at 4.30am and left the back of 5am (I know, long gone are the days when I lay in bed on a Sunday morning).

On the way up, the alternator belt on the car snapped. (In case your mechanical knowledge is as limited as mine-this meant that the car battery was not being charged when we drove). This might not have been such a big problem if the rain had not been persistently lashing down meaning that we needed both windscreen wipers and the lights- which both obviously run off the battery.

When we got to Bath around 9am, Craig and Mark dropped Siobhan and I off at the 'Runners Village' and went to try and find a Kwik Fit or Halfords to get another alternator belt. However, the car konked out before they could get there. They broke down in the middle of nowhere somewhere near Chippingham and had to call the AA.

When the AA arrived they drove them to lots of places in and around Bath but could not find another belt- being a Sunday obviously meant that many places were closed for the day. Instead, they eventually had to buy another battery and just hope that it would have enough charge on it to get us from Bath to Cornwall.

Meanwhile, the rain is lashing down very hard and Siobhan and I are stood ankle deep in mud in the Runners Village with bin bags over us. I did question my sanity at this point. Eventually the runners were called up to the start line at 11.40am. The race had been delayed by an hour because the First Aid team were late arriving.

There were 15,000 runners. At the start line there were time markers so you could stand next to the time you thought you might complete the race in. This is to stop the slower runners being in front of and holding up the faster runners. Siobhan and I stood next the 2hrs 20mins marker.

The klaxon started the race at 12noon, but because there were so many people in front of us, we never got across the start line until 12.10pm. The first 5miles or so, we could barely get our stride with so may people being crammed in. Those first miles were really frustrating as we had to dive through the crowd to overtake people.

The course was 2 identical laps around Bath city centre. By mile 6/7 we had almost completed our first lap and were feeing pretty good. The rain had stopped and the crowd had cleared out a bit meaning that we could finally stretch our legs enough to get a decent stride in. The elite runners were just beginning to lap us. It was amazing to see them go. They were like running machines! The winner I believe did it in 65minutes.

The challenge of lap two was to avoid tripping or sliding on all the debris the runners had left on the road during lap one. There were millions of disgarded plastic bottles and lids and hundreds of pieces of running clothes that people had obviously decided to ditch rather than carry. One guy at the Lucozade stop grabbed a bottle, took one swig off it and then decided he didn't want it. He obviously thought he'd chuck the bottle away from the road but in doing so, managed to cover Siobhan and I in sticky Lucozade as the contents of his near full bottle emptied all over us as he threw it.

The spectator crowds had thinned out by mile 10, but as we came within the last 2 miles there were loads of people at the side of the road shouting and screaming. That helped with the motivation. The last mile was a slight incline and then dead flat for the final 500metres which we attempted to sprint for the finish. We think we did it in 2hours 6mins although this is still to be confirmed. Our race numbers contained a chip that electronically activated and deactived as we crossed the start and finish lines. So we'll get the official race time in due course. We got our goody bags just beyond the finish line. They contained biscuits, sweets, juice a T-shirt and a medal. See picture.

After the run we managed to catch up with Mark and Craig who had only just arrived in Bath after driving around for hours with the AA man. So much for spending those hours sampling some of the pubs in Bath. The boys were understandably keen to get on the road before it got dark and we needed to use our lights. So it was a quick pint and then in the car again.

We eventually had to turn on the lights at around 6.40pm but by then we were already in Cornwall. We got home at the back of 7pm. The car battery died just as we passed the sign to enter into Mount Hawke. The road is on a slight decline and we let the car coast as far as possible and managed to get into our estate!! Hurray!

So, it never really turned out as I had imagined! I was expecting good weather and time to look around more, but with the weather and the car conspiring against us, it never really turned out as planned. But, after a beer when we got home we were all able to see the funny side. There are unfortunately, no lovely pictures of the Bath architecture. Although, Bath is undeniably gorgeous. Perhaps I'll go back another time. Or maybe, Bath is jinxed for me and I'll just avoid it from now on!!!!!!

Hope you all had a warmer and drier Sunday than I had- and that you cars are working!

PS We managed to achieve our fundraising target and more. Once all the money has been collected we think we'll be closer to £300 and we only needed to raise £200, so thanks very much for your donations. Its a good cause.

Kellyxx