Number 12 - Sheffield Half Marathon

I enjoyed this race, the crowds were fantastic and the start and finish in the Don Valley stadium was great. Made you feel like a proper athlete.

The organisation was great, especially the large baggage area which was for participants only, makes a change from getting cold before a race. The only slight problem was the wait for medal and goodies after the race, especially as it was wet and cold, but it was a minor problem.

I did take it easy in this race, due to only having done FLM 2 weeks before and a bruised coccyx, so I did walk the up hill bits (of which there are few) and kept my pace down. Though did manage a 7:57 final mile.

I would definitely do this one again,

8/10

Number 2 - Brandon Forest Half Marathon 28/05/07

Well apart from suffering from shin splints, wearing my husbands every day socks and it feeling more like the depths of January than nearly June, I did like the run.

It was well organised, even though it is a small race, there were plenty of water stations and because the course is a set of three loops which you do twice it breaks the race up into nice chunks.

It was really muddy so the trail running felt more like a cross country and we all got very wet and muddy.

The only down side was that there were no toilets at the start/finish (it was about a 10 minute drive away, which they did tell you about). This meant that even though I had driven to the toilets, when I got to the start I needed to go again. Being female meant this is harder said than done and meant a long trek in to the undergrowth to try and protect my dignity.

I think if you can get a nice day, when it had not been raining this could be a fast course and a potential PB is achievable.

8/10