Janet Glynn and Marie O'Connor travelled over to the east coast for this race on Sunday. Jan writes:
"Well not being crackers, mad and bonkers like Russell :o) …..Marie, Dave and I went to the “sunny” coast of Bridlington to participate in their half marathon race. And to be fair, the morning was very fresh and the sun was shining but not stifling so perfect running conditions. Dave unfortunately had a chest infection so decided to sit this one out so he spectated instead, took some wonderful photos and was a great supporter as always. Thanks sweets!
Anyhow…on to the run. What a beautiful scenic route starting by the seafront, climbing up to Flamborough, taking in the very pretty and small village of Bempton (it’s that tiny, sneeze and you’ll miss it!) and then making our way back to Bridlington. The course itself is rather hilly to begin with however the hills are more gradual than steep which I found enjoyable. So lots of hard work to begin with and I remembered one hill at around the 8 mile mark that seemed to (just like Mrs Doyle out of Father Ted) go on go on go on…….!! I remember trying to get my breathing pattern together up this hill which was rather hard due to the air being condensed with the smell of cattle dung! But once we got to mile 9 there seemed to be more downhills from there on and I knew we were on our way home. Mile 12 was high up on the sea front and the wind was rather unkind and was blowing against us which made the last mile longer and so much harder with especially weakened legs (I felt like I was running through glue!) However Dave was there to support and cheer us on and I even managed a few cheeky smiles for the camera. To my amazement, an elderly man over took me at this point and the crowd were cheering him home including myself. I had to know more about this amazing athlete so shook his hand at the end and said “Hi, I’m Jan and I’m 37. How old are you?” He said (as he looked towards his watch) “I did it in 1 hour 54 mins and 30 seconds.”…tee hee. So maybe he was a little deaf but a true super star!! Dave got a great photo of him and his friend who were both 67!! I noticed that their t shirts indicated they were members of the York’s Knavesmier Harriers and that they only happened to be the organisers of the Brass Monkey!! They said that they had received approximately two hundred envelopes of entries they had yet to open. I asked them to consider VARR members when making their decision. Don’t know if it worked but only time will tell….fingers crossed hey guys?!
So to conclude, I would strongly recommend this run just for its sheer beauty and enjoyment and hope to see more of us next year on this wonderful scenic route. You also get a medal at the end instead of the usual heavy duty cotton t shirt which was a bonus!!
Jan, Dave & Marie xx"
Marie O'Connor 1:43:43 243rd
Janet Glynn 1:54:34 408th
Well done ladies on your excellent runs and Jan on your new pb!
Click here for more pics courtesy of Dave McGuire and Ian Watson.
