Quick results below…
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Time Position Age Grade %
1:36:47 60 out of 220 61.2%
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Well the Buxton Half is something very special. Last year I was fairly scared by the course profile, as road races go, it has to be one of the toughest course profiles for the distance. This year the same team that took on the challenge last time entered it again. A year into my training for the Marathon des Sables and feeling fit, I needed to see a big improvement over last years time, so the strategy for the day was to take it calm on the up hill and “Smash it… 150%” apprentice style on the downhill.
Ben, Dave and I lined up at the start line. Dave was carrying an injury and so was purely going for completion, Ben wanted a new personal best, and more importantly, under 1:55:00. The whistle went and off we went! I tried not to set off to fast to start with as the climb to Axe edge is a long one and I needed energy for the downhills. It was very windy and exposed on the climb to Axe Edge and for the next couple of miles and really took a lot of me. I passed a hiker at one point who was cheering us runners on as we ran down the hill, but I was slightly concerned about his navigation ability as he was deadly serious when he said “It’s all downhill from now”, clearly he hadn’t encountered the killer climb after Glutton Bridge!
I was feeling strong and I passed the 10K point at 46:05 which was a good time regardless of the terrain. Round the corner from the 10K mark was Glutton Bridge and the start of the killer climb. This climb really destroyed me last year, this year it was tough, but manageable. A few people overtook me on the climb, but on the downhill I stormed past more.
There was one tough hill left… Harpur hill, a short (by Buxton standards) sharp hill around the 11 mile mark. Again, on the downhill I managed to overtake more, and this was a real surprise this late in the race, at this point last year I was in a world of pain being constantly overtaken.
By the time I was on the final downhill I was starting to run on empty, I was trying to keep up with a girl in front of me, who was still strong and overtaking people. She was to strong for me to catch, but keeping her in sight kept me going strong. As I turned the final corner, upped the speed one final and crossed the finish line in 1:36:47, an improvement of nearly 9 minutes over last time.
The race was not over though and I kept my eyes peeled for Dave and Ben. Dave was the next to come in and even though he looked in a bad way he managed his customary screaming finish with a time of 1:53:12. Ben and his yellow colour scheme running clothes finished like a ray of sunshine with a time of 1:54:59 on his watch and achieved his target of under 1:55:00.
A final big thank you to all the marshals who helped make the race possible.
Cheers
Andy
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