Reading Half Marathon 2013 - Race Report

Something is telling me that my running, and the pursuit of my racing goals, needs to take a back seat for now. Six weeks out from the London Marathon, and after a series of poor workouts, I reached breaking point. I ran myself into the ground. I literally couldn't run. It was as if someone inserted an iron rod behind my left knee and I had trouble extending it quickly without pain.

This was a huge blow to my marathon preparation. There was no chance that I would run a 1:27 time at the Reading Half Marathon in a week, which I was treating as a warm-up race, and a sub-3 hour time at London was pretty much gone. I was gutted, and to be honest I'm still reeling from this and I'm losing confidence in my ability to run a good race at London.

The physio advised me to stop all running for a week and withdraw from the Reading Half Marathon, to give me the best possible chance of recovery for London. I asked whether it was possible that I could at least run it very slowly, and, on the condition that I stop if there was any sign of pain, she said that I could.

I left the decision to run Reading on race-day morning based on how my leg was feeling. It felt like I could run slowly on it, so hopefully it would last 13.1 miles. With a time goal thrown out the window, there was nothing to run for, except for fun. Even though the weather on the day was absolutely nasty, I was going to enjoy the event for once from the back of the pack, rather than stressing myself out at the front in the pursuit of a fast time.

Me, and my marathon training partner, Tony Page, before the race in bin liners to keep warm and dry from the rain.

And because I went into this race with that mind-set, all my racing rituals went out the window. No quick toilet trip, no warm up, got to the start line after the starting gun had fired. I started with my UK family, Angela and Cookie Liu, and we passed the 1 mile mark in 10 minutes flat. I was originally intending to run with Cookie to prevent a repeat of what happened at the Oxford Half Marathon last year, but in the 2nd mile both Angela and Cookie started to pull ahead, I was having trouble keeping with them so I wisely chose not to risk the leg. I was already running on my own.

At mile 3, I decided to stop for a toilet break, and even though there were guys peeing on the side of the Shinfield Road in full view of everyone I chose to do the right thing and wait 5 minutes in a queue for the portaloos. As soon as I was ready to run I was spotted by Woodley parkrunner, Jenny Oakley, who was running her 2nd half marathon, and I accompanied her from there. We got talking about how she was feeling, her previous best half marathon time, and how she was going to beat that. At the steady and comfortable pace we were going, she was well within target splits and was easily on track for a new personal best if she sustained the effort in the later stages of the race. We ran along Shinfield Road and the university grounds before she pulled ahead on Christchurch Road. Turning right onto Kendrick Road I also saw Emma Grenside, another Woodley parkrunner. We exchanged greetings and it looked like she was running very comfortably.

By mile 6, I needed to go to the toilet again, so I spent another 5 minutes waiting for the portaloos at Forbury Gardens. On Friar Street I saw the familiar faces of Joanna Greenwood and Sev Konieczny, also from Woodley parkrun, cheering on the runners in the rain. I stopped and chatted to Sev for a few minutes before setting off again in the rain.

On Russell Street, I saw more familiar faces, Emma and David Caswell, and again I stopped to have a brief chat with them. David chose to pull out of the half marathon due to an ongoing calf injury in order to be fit for the upcoming Paris Marathon. Not long after, we saw the Woodley parkrun event director, Kerri French, running up Russell Street. It was time to resume running. And in doing so, I decided to accompany Kerri to her first half marathon finish and ensure that she runs a good race.

We kept things steady from mile 8-10 and it was obvious that her training was helping here. She was running very comfortably throughout and, despite the horrible weather, was in very high spirits. I think it was because she had her name printed on her Reading Roadrunners t-shirt that everyone was cheering her on personally. But I also think that this was the moment that all her training came down to this very day and she was determined to make the most of it, no matter what the outcome. The support that she got from complete strangers on the street was immense; even I was also appreciating it.

As soon as we reached the A33 it was time to up the pace. Her legs started to hurt but I kept telling her that it's supposed to hurt. Pointing to my head I told her that she needed to "find it in here". She responded to my call and kept the pace going. With 1 km to go, a time under 2:20 was on!

We saw the 2:20 pace maker ahead of us, and slowly, but surely, we caught up to him on the approach to Madejski Stadium. It was there and then that I realised that I had my iPhone in my running jacket pocket, so I decided to pull it out and video the final parts of the race, hoping to get a video of Kerri finishing. When we entered the stadium Kerri surprised everyone in front of her, including me, with a sprint finish that set the stadium alive. I was concerned about the tight corner and the wet surface, hoping that she wouldn't slip in front of hundreds of spectators, and at the pace she was going around the corner it looked like she was going to crash into a photographer on the side of the track. But she regained herself and pushed one final time to the finish. It was over. There was nothing left. She was done!

We left the stadium to collect the goody bags, the medal and the space blankets. I didn't see it, but she admitted that she did shed a tear. To achieve her first half marathon finish, in a time that she wouldn't have dreamed of, was understandably a very overwhelming feeling and I am incredibly proud of her achievement.

Me, the amazing Kerri French, and my UK aunty, Angela Liu, with our medals after the race.

When I got home I had planned to send the raw video to Kerri, but upon watching the movie files over and over again I thought, why not make a short movie as a tribute to her achievement? Creativity quickly set in and soon I was looking for a suitable soundtrack in my huge music library and various running playlists. Eventually I found a gem of a song called "The World's Greatest" by R. Kelly. The lyrics are meaningful and relates to Kerri's amazing growth from a beginning non-runner to a genuine long distance enthusiast, and the feeling she must have felt when she crossed the finish line. Since posting this video on YouTube it has received an overwhelmingly positive response, which is truly humbling.

The final 400m of the Reading Half Marathon.

Even though I ran a huge personal worst, it was also a huge personal best in another sense of the word. To see runners achieving PBs, running Reading for the first time, and just generally enjoying themselves, despite the horrible conditions, was very satisfying. One of my marathon running heroes once tweeted: Help someone reach their potential; in helping them reach theirs, you'll reach your own. These words couldn't be more true. Even though I didn't reach my running potential that day, in helping Kerri reach her running potential, I made the big strides in reaching my potential as a better person.

I'm hoping that I'll be fit in time for London in a month. Even though I'm resigned to the fact that I'm not going to reach my original goal this time, come what may, I'm sure I'm going to have a great experience.