Tricia’s Half Marathon Update

The half-marathon, 13 miles along the beautiful Causeway Coast went really well although I had a few surprises along the way!

The terrain was quite demanding as it included grass, mud, gravel, stones, sandy beach, scrambling over slippery rocks and seaweed, dozens of stiles, single-file flights of steps and lots of hilly cliff paths! I was prepared for the cliff paths and hills but the other factors were an unexpected (but fun!) additional challenge. I was amongst 418 half-marathon runners alongside walkers, ultramarathon (40 miles, uuggh), marathon and 10k runners, so there were people all over the place along the narrow paths, all travelling at different speeds  Some people had even come from abroad for the privilege.

Unfortunately, the scenery was largely wasted on me as I had to keep my eyes on the ground; apart from a lovely section of hard sand on the beach at Whitepark Bay, the footing was often slippery and almost always uneven. Operation Orphan and my sponsors were in my mind as I ran (honestly, it’s true) and I’m thankful to God for arriving at the finish line, injury-free, in 2 hours 14 minutes. People are still asking me about it and sponsoring me, so I’m very excited to see the pennies mounting up for Operation Orphan. 

Tricia

(Photo – Carrick Camera Club)