The Very Long Bath Half Marathon

I’ve been looking around for a nice trail run and came across the Relish Running Races who organise some very interesting races in the Bath, Somerset area. I’ve no idea who they are but the races look like a lot of fun. The one that strikes my fancy is part of the Bath Running Festival on July 27 th, which offers 5k, 10k, half and full and it’s the half marathon that I’ve registered for.

relish running races

After that I looked in a bit more detail at the course and realized that this considerably more than a ‘half marathon’. For one thing it’s a tad shy of 26km (a “generously long” half), which may not sound like so much but it’s a half marathon with 4km tacked on the end. Second, it has some rather daunting climbs and descents on the course, including a straight one mile at the 10k point, which will put paid to any idea I may have of trying to keep my heart rate down to a reasonable count. On the plus side, and there are many, there will be fantastic views over Bath and the surrounding countryside, the weather is going to be fantastic (if a little hot) and the water stations offer a wide range of food and drinks (really!).

Part of me wonders if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, as the last couple of months have really disrupted any practise regime I might have had and my runs have been of the shorter variety. Ah well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Looking at the results from last year I think if I can make a 3 hour time for the course I will be doing very well, more realistically I’ll be closer to 3:30 I think. Relish Running Races do quite a variety of races in their area in North Somerset, ranging from full marathons to family day fun runs of anything from 300m to 10k. Check out their website.