Larking Gowen City of Norwich Half MarthonLarking Gowen City of Norwich Half MarthonSunday 2nd December 2007.
The Larking Gowen
sponsored City of Norwich Half Marathon must count as the biggest running race
in the county with over 2,200 entrants. There was then a further 180
entrants in the supporting 5k Race for EACH.
Tri-Anglia were well representated with members both competing and marshalling in this event organised by City of Norwich Athletics Club.
Despite the weather seeming set to thwart the event with strong winds and rain the attendance and atmosphere were brilliant. It was great to be able to chat to lots of Tri-Anglia members and friends from other clubs before, after and during the event. It was good to find out what people have been up to, what they have planned for 2008 and to congratulate people on their PBs.
From a personal perspective I had planned to treat the race as a training run. I had after all bagged a PB at the Amsterdam Half in October in good conditions on pretty much a dead flat course, so a fast time on a wet windy day on a non-flat course without tappering really didn't seem on the cards. I set out with Becky Schofield of Norwich Canoe Club and the GB Kayak Team to help her in her first half marathon and try to pace her round in about 1:40. We put in a really fast but very comfortable 6:30 first mile. The next couple of miles we held at 7min miles. I then eased to 7:05s whilst Becky continued at 7's now in conversation with another lady runner she'd found. Phil Smith passed me at the 6 mile point. I was now seeing how far I'd get before dropping below an average of 7mpm. The first lap was completed and the 7mile mark passed before that happened. Hang on a minute - I'm now on for a Personal Best. Graham Pigg gave me some company for a mile or so and helped me through what was my slowest part of the race. Once to the 9 mile point I started pushing for home. Soon catching Phil and then on the hill into the show ground I caught and passed Becky at the 12 mile mark. Bagged a PB by a minute with a time of 1:32:37. Very pleasing for a wet day out. Becky's first half marathon appearance, in fact her first run over an hour, got her a time of 1:32:58.
I'm so glad the post race session was in one of the barns at the showground. A dry venue in which to catch up and congratulate other runners. Mark Philo was running his second half marathon in a week, having done Benidorm a week earlier. He was out for breaking the 1:35 barrier. I'd lined up with him at the start, but he soon disappeared in front of me. Hearing his tales of being pipped to the post by Rose Waterman was amusing. The man was clearly thrilled to have smashed his target time by clocking 1:30:05 and seemed to be in good humour about losing out to Rose who clocked 1:29:57. The really pleasing thing though, was later on in the afternoon when I returned to the showground to help the clear up operation to find on the official results that he'd been credited with an identical time to Rose of 1:29:57. The chip timing system is clearly more accurate than Mark's timing and I guess that he must have crossed the start line a few seconds behind her.
In all a great day out and prove that damp weather doesn't dampen enthusiasm. A special thanks to everyone who turned up to race, everyone who pitchup to support and most importantly to all the Marshalls who stood in the rain for hours waiting for all of us competitors to finish. Thank you.
| Pos | # | Name | Club | Time |
| 25 | 2148 | Karl Sherry | Norwich Road Runners | 1:21:06 |
| 68 | 667 | Stewart Barker | Tri-Anglia | 1:26:17 |
| 76 | 1008 | Anne Flanagan | Norwich Road Runners | 1:27:20 |
| 79 | 515 | Russell Clarke | Wymondham Athletic Club | 1:27:42 |
| 93 | 313 | Mark Clues | Tri-Anglia | 1:28:20 |
| 116 | 335 | Mark Philo | Tri-Anglia | 1:29:57 |
| 118 | 1482 | Rose Waterman | City of Norwich AC | 1:29:57 |
| 131 | 1325 | Penny Edwards | Norwich Road Runners | 1:30:43 |
| 141 | 828 | Colin Browning | Norwich Road Runners | 1:31:26 |
| 142 | 1450 | Nicola McIvor | 1:31:28 | |
| 146 | 962 | Baard Grindberg | 1:31:53 | |
| 153 | 696 | Matthew Spillman | 1:31:58 | |
| 156 | 1977 | Matthew Ellis | Tri-Anglia | 1:32:17 |
| 164 | 306 | Rob Lines | Tri-Anglia | 1:32:37 |
| 195 | 548 | Gary Wootton | Tri-Anglia | 1:34:01 |
| 197 | 336 | Phil Smith | Tri-Anglia | 1:34:02 |
| 198 | 2213 | Graham Pigg | 1:34:06 | |
| 229 | 285 | Paul Yallop | Tri-Anglia | 1:35:27 |
| 259 | 1802 | Tony Robinson | Tri-Anglia | 1:36:44 |
| 333 | 2011 | Peter Aldred | Lowestoft Road Runners | 1:39:36 |
| 349 | 366 | Jonathan Briggs | City of Norwich AC | 1:40:07 |
| 366 | 139 | Andrew Atthowe | Tri-Anglia | 1:40:59 |
| 395 | 101 | Jonathan Tyrrell | Tri-Anglia | 1:42:28 |
| 455 | 196 | James Hayward | Tri-Anglia | 1:44:21 |
| 574 | 1161 | Zoe Catchpole | 1:47:28 | |
| 731 | 490 | Stephen Baker | 1:51:11 | |
| 753 | 464 | Ross Campbell | Tri-Anglia | 1:51:43 |
| 868 | 745 | Sam Kingston | 1:54:48 | |
| 876 | 573 | Paul Barrett | 1:54:53 | |
| 881 | 402 | Gareth Williams | 1:55:00 | |
| 898 | 1635 | Gaynor Egan | Tri-Anglia | 1:55:22 |
| 1086 | 338 | Neil Coleman | Great Yarmouth Road Runners | 1:59:47 |
| 1181 | 940 | Thomas Wagstaff | Tri-Anglia | 2:02:14 |
| 1559 | 1253 | Susan Potter | Bungay Black Dog RC | 2:17:15 |
Full results available on the official website: http://www.cityofnorwichhalfmarathon.com/
Members seen marshalling include Kerry Davis, Darryl Davis, Andy Walpole, Wayne Crowe, Katy Walters and Clare Cole. I know that Simon Edye was riding his bike as tail-end Charlie, but didn't see him. I'm sure there were others, please forgive me for being in a bit of a daze.