Round the Island - Race Report

me coming in to finish, originally uploaded by ultraBobban.

I love this race. I love the weekend. It changes with the tide. Literally. It can only be run at low tide as the race from 7-8 and 10.5-11.5 miles are only accessible at low tide, otherwise the sea comes up to the cliffs.

This is my third outing at the Round the Island Half. Mum and Dad live on the Island...Mersea Island which is accessible by causeway at low tide in North Essex. The wildlife is just sublime as the Colne and the Blackwater Estuaries meet. Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Sand Piper and Egret were all spotted today.

A smaller field than last year (same day as the North Downs Run) but the visit to the folks was more important. After the South Downs Marathon 8 days ago and the fear of running too fast to get injured I went off far too fast. The first 3 miles in 22 minutes into the wind saw me in about 25th out of 200ish in the field. I was not a fan of the first 3-4 miles but soon got into a rhythm and overtook a couple of runners on the Strood turn. I then ran with a Springfield Strider who was first woman for the next 4 miles. She was hurtling along at about 7.08s and I was just about to hang on after a 7.20s last couple of miles. She pulled off to tie her lace near water stop 2. Within about 2 miles her fellow runner went past and was now 1st female.

I then had a nightmare mile. The course had not changed since last year but a number of runners took the longer route across the sand rather than through the grassland. There were no marshalls at this point so I followed. With a steep incline in the short sandy bay, I pulled a Soleus muscle and dropped to an 8.30 for a mile in the sand. Back on the coast road I picked up the speed for the last mile or so but was totally blasted from last week's marathon. 1.31.42 was 90 seconds slower than last year but upon reflection not bad for this year. Mrs UB flew across the line in 2.08 which was 7 mins faster than last year so brilliant, despite her taking a tumble. Brilliant day!! Managed a 5 mile recovery run 6 hours later and feel much better on the Soleus