Parking was just £3 at the David Hughes Leisure Centre, where registration was also taking place and I was pleased to note the presence of showers for afterwards. The wind felt bitterly cold though, and I was glad of a good walk to the start line to warm me up. At the start there was also a bag drop van and some more loos, although the queue for these was a bit too long and I didn't bother. I met up with a friend and fellow Bournville Harrier, Laura Gale - we'd both separately entered not realising until afterwards that there would be anyone else prepared to make the trip over; so it was a bonus to have someone to chat to.
The race began at 9am on the Menai Bridge and it was a twisty start through the town on fairly narrow roads for the first mile or so, before heading out of town along the coastal road towards Beaumaris and beyond. The views out over the Menai Strait and onto the Irish Sea were stunning and the sun shone for a good part of the race, it was even feeling a little too warm in some of the sheltered parts.
A fellow runner recognised the Bournville vest and asked me to say hello from "Welsh Helen" to a club mate of mine. There was a good sense of camaraderie throughout the run and I was feeling reasonably comfortable at a pace that I knew could see me through to a PB. I hadn't paid too much attention to the course profile, knowing my tendency to hold back too much and worry myself over hills; but I had heard some other runners talking about a longish climb at the 10-mile point. I've started to believe though that hills can help the overall time if I make the most of the compensatory effect of the downhills, so I wasn't too concerned about slowing down a bit just after the halfway point. I took some of the energy drink at the aid station, which was really nice and I will definitely use some of the High 5 products they gave out as part of the goody bag.
There was a bit of an argument between two runners as we turned back from Llanfaes, one of whom had apparently discarded his gel pouch on the course (not near the water station). I tried not to become distracted by it as it was quite a heated exchange. I found I was passing other runners along the flatter sections here, only to lose ground on the hills so tried to maintain my focus. The wind began to trouble us all, and another runner had just said to me "will we ever get to 9?" when the 9-mile marker appeared as we rounded onto the sea front at Beaumaris. I'm not really sure what happened next but I tripped over seemingly nothing and suddenly the ground was coming up to meet me. Momentum took me forwards and I put my hand out, then rolled onto my elbow and thigh before coming to a stop on my back. Judging from my watch afterwards, I was down for about 20-30 seconds but it felt like longer. A few people kindly stopped to help, but I sort of knew I was okay and that I just needed a moment to collect myself.
I got up and started to run on, feeling a bit embarrassed and concerned that I might have broken my phone... It's funny how your thoughts take a little while to un-jumble themselves because initially I felt absolutely fine, but I gradually began to feel quite upset. I took a quick glance at my elbow and could see it was bleeding but it didn't seem to be dripping. My hand felt sore and I could sense that my shoulder and thigh had taken some of the fall too. That mile must have just been a total blur though because the hill at 10-miles was soon upon me and I started to have a bit of a wobble, filling up with tears and nearly twisting my ankle on a cat's eye. I was telling myself to concentrate when a man came past me and said "good recovery, you're doing really well".
I started to focus on the positives; I'd got up and carried on; it would make a funny story; at least it happened towards the last third of the race so I didn't have far to go to get it looked at. All thoughts of getting a good time had gone and I felt really tired for the remainder of the race, just wanting to reach the end. Coming back into town the atmosphere was pretty special - it was buzzing and everyone seemed so happy. The clouds had started to come in as forecast so we were very lucky to get the best of the day's weather.
I saw Laura just before the finish line, and heard my Aunt and Mom who had come to meet me (they were cheering so loud I think all of Wales could have heard them!) I glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that it was a second-best half time for me, even on the gun time. I collected my medal and a drink and quickly made my way to the medical tent. I felt a bit wobbly while they took a look at the damage, but I was pleased that both my wrist and elbow were okay - no sign of anything broken, just a bit of swelling and a nasty scrage.
I caught up with my family and found Laura, who had managed a brilliant PB and was 5th female too! I really did enjoy the overall experience - it was a long way to travel but I think it would be a hard one to beat for scenery. I also took a lot of confidence from how well I'd been running up until I fell. My chip time was 1:53:23 so not far off my PB (1:52:15) and I'm confident that my fitness is improving.
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