RunThrough Gateshead Half Marathon – 5th May 2024
By Andy Turnell
This was my third time at the Gateshead Half. I’ve started to look on it as a useful early season benchmark for how I’m doing at longer distances.
Last year I manage to finish first in the V65 category and was hoping for a similar result this time. Crook had 3 entries in the 10k but I was the sole representative in the half.
The race starts and finishes in the Gateshead International Stadium and is well organised with start and finish lines on the track itself. This does have the slight drawback however, that the course drops down to the Tyne and, because it’s a 2 lap course, crosses the Swing Bridge a total of four times. The result is that you get to practice the uphill finish halfway through the race.
There were actually 3 races in progress at the same time. The Full Marathon started at 9:00 while the Half and the 10k shared a start at 9:25. This resulted in a fairly congested start and I was further back than I should have been (as usual) and although I was just about up to speed as I crossed the start line, we soon ground to a virtual halt as we crowded through the narrow exit from the stadium and out onto the roads. More on that later.
I knew that last year I had run an average kilometre pace of 5:11 and my plan was to run the first 5 k, mainly downhill, in under 25 minutes. I couldn’t blast away too quickly as I was weaving my way past the optimists for the first couple of miles.
I passed 5k in 24:24 and felt in control. Last year I had used SIS gels for the first time and although I felt they helped, I found it distracting trying to tear them open while running and ended up with gooey fingers. This year I tried a reusable gel pack from Kendal Mint Company filled with their Mint and Caffeine gel. It holds 140 millilitres of gel and fits neatly in the hand, no squeezing required, just bite the top and suck. I found it much easier to use and just kept taking in a little at every mile marker.
Towards the end on the first lap I passed 10k in 49:30 so was still averaging under 5 minutes a kilometre.
Soon after this came the halfway-ish U turn where the 10k runners turned back into the Stadium and the Marathon and Half Marathoners set of on another lap. I took advantage of the water station this time.
The second lap included an extra section along Hawks Road to make up the distance to the required 21.1k, then it was back downhill past the Sage and on to the riverside out towards Teams for the second time.
After the turn-around at Teams, I took on more water at the 15k mark and decided that it was more important to get it down my throat by stopping than to carry on running and splash it on my face. I think I made the right choice as I had caught and passed other runners who didn’t stop within a couple of hundred metres. Checking my time at 15k, I was still averaging under 5 minutes per k. I was beginning to feel confident about about a PB but I knew how hard the last few k had been last year. On the bright side, nothing was hurting, much.
Past the 10 mile marker and just a parkrun to go. Once back over the Swing Bridge for the last time I tried to prepare mentally for the final push. I’m not sure whether it’s true, but it seemed as if each uphill section was a little steeper than the previous.
The climb back to the Stadium is a series of longer gentle slopes and shorter steeper ones. I can never remember how many corners there are until the approach to the Stadium, there always seem to be more on the second lap than there were on the first.
At last, the final corner arrived and with it the steepest climb, then it was back onto the track for half a lap and as much of a sprint finish as I could muster. I actually managed the last 350m at 4:24 pace so I probably hadn’t been trying hard enough.
Last year’s time was 1:50:33 and as I crossed the finish I could see the Gun Time was 1:49 something so I finished happy.
I checked my watch which clocked me a 1:47:32. Result. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to turn off the “auto pause” function which stops recording time when the pace drops below a threshold so, when I was queuing up to leave the Stadium at the start and when I stopped to drink the water, the watch stopped too. Official Chip Time 1:47:55. Still, a course PB is a course PB.
I didn’t manage to retain my 1st V65 status though. Mick Meaney of Ponteland Runners finished in 1:38:42 so it wasn’t even close, never mind.
I’m beating myself, which is the main thing.
2022 1:53:23 4th VM65
2023 1:50:30 1st VM65
2024 1:47:55 2nd VM65
By the time I’m 70 I should be sub 1:40 😉
