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Kimbolton Half Marathon
Sunday 17th August 2014
Neil T
A merry gaggle of C&C half marathoners assembled in the rather resplendent village of Kimbolton on a Sunday morning for the second running of the NiceTri Half Marathon.
Although the risk of a race in August is normally from overheating, the weather gods decided to throw a surprise into the mix, as everyone huddled in the tents from some unwelcome sideways rain with under fifteen minutes to go. If nothing else, it reduced the queues for the portaloos! Fortunately the rain relented just prior to the start, and kept conditions nice and cool for the kick off.
The course was pleasantly rolling, although dangerous close to the Swineshead 10 territory, in parts. Normally, the mention of a 'hill' at 11 miles would strike fear into the heart of some fen-dwellers, but the combination of either ignorance or blind optimism meant that it didn't seem to affect performance too much. The sun burst through for the closing minutes, clearly to celebrate some excellent results for the blue and white army.
First C&Cer past the post was Claire Somerton as first lady, in 10th place overall. This was particularly impressive as it was the day after a 5km PB the day before, blasting the opposition with a PB of 1:20:57, taking home the prize (by some distance!).
Close behind was a gaggle (or should the collective noun be a 'sprint'?) of speedy gents, each pacing Claire or attempting to cling onto her slipstream. Bravo to Matt Slater (1:21:06) after a ten mile 'warm up' earlier in the morning, Dan Hurst (1:22:58) and Graeme Kennedy (1:24:01) for some good times and claiming the overall C&C Male team title. Dan - if you're reading this, I've got your team shield, and sorry for stealing your place in the team photo...
C&C also claimed the Ladies team prize, thanks to some excellent running from Victoria Coe (1:41:24), Suzy Tautz (1:41:27) and Liz O'Donovan (1:43:47).
I managed to sneak a pleasing PB myself and there were other good solid runs from Ben Chamberlain, Stuart Clarke and Paul 'keeping it real' Beastall.
Overall it was a friendly and well organised event, and close to home too. If you like your terrain a little lumpier than in Cambridge , then I would definitely recommend it in the future, if nothing else for the pretty finish in front of the school building. Or the pub opposite which did excellent burgers!
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