An early alarm wake up call (5:30AM) meant it was Anglesey Half Marathon day. Sometimes I wonder why we put ourselves through it, and this was how I was definitely feeling at this unsociable hour in the morning. A hot shower and mug of tea soon lifted my spirits.
'Anglesey Half' is a popular race which attracts a large field of between 2,000 and 3,000 runners every year, it's popular because it has an interesting start and beautiful route. It starts on the old bridge (mainland side), crosses the straits and follows the pretty coastline round to Beaumaris, after lap of the castle it returns along the straits back to the finish at Menai Bridge.
A not so sunny wales welcomed us with pouring rain, wind and very chilly conditions, not ideal, the sooner we got on with the race the better as far as I was concerned. I collected my race number, a last minute trip to the loo (sorry for the detail!) and 'bag drop', and we were sent on our way. Running across the bridge over the straits was fun and and a nice way to start the race, we then picked up the coastal road to Beaumaris, this was deceptively hilly, after rounding the castle we headed home along the same route, this was a bit of a confidence booster as we passed many runners on the outward leg. It wasn't long before we were on the final mile back to Menai Bridge for the finish. I crossed the line in 1hr 28min which I was satisfied with.
A welcome spectator at the finish was my mum who treated me to a very welcome egg and bacon butty and coffee, just what I needed!
This is a good race, and well worth doing, lovely route although deceptively hilly. My only criticism is that it could have been organised better, parking was a problem you have to park on the Anglesey side the make your way across the bridge back to the mainland, my only tip is arrive in plenty of time, secondly, I was also waiting a good 25 minutes to pick up my bag in freezing conditions, could have been smoother. That aside, an enjoyable half!