On Sunday the 12th of May I ran the Sheffield Half Marathon in what was my second Half Marathon but first fundraising effort.
I wanted to run for CRY after losing my dad, Ian Taylor – a fit, seemingly healthy young man – to a sudden cardiac arrest far too young; and also because the idea of at least 12 families a week being devastated by the loss of a family member, as mine were, is truly upsetting and I’d like to do as much as I can to reduce this.
After weeks of hard training, involving seemingly endless evenings trying to keep up with my cross country champion friend over the hills surrounding the area I live, I had built up to running 10 and a half miles and was getting quicker and quicker and starting to feel confident about the run.
Eventually the day came and I took up position with the other runners aiming to run times of around 1 hour and 45 minutes, which would have been an improvement of 5 minutes on my time from last year.
In excellent running conditions of clear skies with a cooling breeze I had an almost perfect run and was making good headway and maintaining a quick pace.
Regular inspections of my watch appeared to indicate that I had made my way around the first half of the course too quickly and I was in danger of wearing myself out.
However, the much hillier environment I’d trained in had left me very fit and equipped with a real determination, so I pushed myself as hard as I could to maintain the speed I was travelling at and managed to finish the 13.6 mile course in 1 hour 34 minutes and 5 seconds – a time I was staggered by!
I even managed to beat my supporters back to the Don Valley Stadium from the half way point in the city centre.
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience of being a CRY runner and have achieved both my targets – to run under 1 hour 45 minutes and to raise £500 for CRY.
I would say to anyone thinking about taking on a challenge like this for CRY, please do, it’s a truly fantastic experience and you might just surprise yourself!
A sore-legged but very happy…
James Taylor