The start of my training kicked off in earnest with the Coventry Half Marathon on 23 May 2010. I ran with my brother, Ian. Considering that we both enjoy running, it was strange that we’d never run together before in any events.
I wasn’t looking to set a personal best as I hadn’t clocked up any serious mileage since the London Marathon in 2006. Instead, off the back of two weeks’ preparation, I wanted to use this as a baseline against which to measure future performance. It was a very hilly course and an exceptionally warm May day (one of the hottest May days on record). By the second half of the race I’d found my stride. Ian and I ran the course together, and for the last 2 miles we were joined by my nephew Harry. Ian and I enjoyed running together, but having suffered cramp for the last few miles, he kindly suggested that I sprint the last 200 metres ahead to the finish line. I finished with a time of 2:24:35. You could probably take about 30 minutes off that for walking with Ian and his cramp. The rest I need to work on. Next year I’ll be looking to repeat the event and shave off 30 minutes, coming in at a time of sub-1:30.