Cardiff Half Marathon

Yesterday was a bright and early start at 5:30am which is not something I plan on getting used to. After a quick breakfast Greg, Karsten, and myself piled into the car and drove over to Cardiff and into the city centre. We were all there to run in the Cardiff Half Marathon (13.1m/21km). I had been dreading the run for the prior few weeks but once we arrived I was full of energy and really looking forward to the race. I had a goal of beating my previous time of 1hour 42min 22 sec which I got in the Bristol Half Marathon back in August. I started a lot further up in line this time thinking that starting at the 2 hour mark last time slowed me down a little.

The course was brilliant and took us all over Cardiff city centre, Cardiff Bay, past the millennium stadium, into a huge park, and ended in the middle of Cardiff Castle. The first 7miles seemed to fly past and I was making really good time. I ran into my friend Greg at the 7mile marker and we ran the rest of the course side by side pushing each other to keep going and keep the pace up. I have been training with Greg quite a bit over the last few weeks and we constantly push each other further each time.


We hit the 10 mile marker just past 1hour 7min and then we both became really tired and a bit dizzy. Heading into the park to do 4 laps up and down was not a pretty site as you can really tell how far you have left to go. With one mile left I turned up the pace, put my head down, and just pushing on through. I have never been so happy to see the end of a race in my life. After crossing the line I looked up at the clock hoping that I beat my previous time to see a clock time of 1 hour 34min and 28 sec meaning I was the 427th person to cross the line out of 6000. My official chip time put me at 1hour 33min 56 sec (446th place). If you are interested in what each means then just check back a few entries to the Bristol Half Marathon for a explanation of each. Well needless to say I was incredibly happy with this time although I was more focused on trying to breathe properly at this point. The highlight though was the incredible medal with a carving of Cardiff Castle on it which as Kelly pointed out made my day as I am somewhat obsessed with castles. The goody bag at the end was full of snacks, lucazade energy drink, t shirt, and cans of soup. Can’t complain over that. The only thing I didn’t like about the race the fact that after we were done there was one small gate to leave through (been a castle and all) and it took 45min for me to get out onto the street. Apart from that it was a great day out.

Today my legs are aching but apart from that I feel great. Its going to be a few months now until the Bath Half Marathon and the London 10km run but the training will continue all the way up to that point. I might take a 2 week break starting tomorrow though as I am off to South Africa and Botswana for 2 weeks tomorrow night. I am sure there will be plenty of photos and entries up here on the blog upon my return at the end of October.

Charity Dragonboat Racing

Our company recently set up team for a charity dragon boat race which took place in the river Avon that runs through Bristol. As I have been taking in part in just about everything the company has to offer I saw no reason to turn down this opportunity. Going out on the Saturday until 2am was probably not the greatest idea but as half the team did the same we were all in the same boat (literally) the next morning... Upon arriving with a bit of headache we saw one of the teams we would have to face. It was none other than the British Army Riffle Squad. Great!!! 4 members of our team didn't show up for the first race but we were determined to do our best. We won the race 18sec ahead of the other boat and we were all really getting into it. It was however incredibly painful in the arms and we welcomed the break until the next race.

Our 2nd race we only just won by a few seconds and then for the 3rd race we came up against he army. By this time we were only 3 men down and we went up against them ready to go. The race was neck and neck all the way down the course with the army just pushing out the win at the end by 2 seconds. We still managed a really good time which put us into the final race as they took the top 4 times from the 17 teams that were there. We spoke with the army after the race and they admitted that they were a little worried for a while as they had been destroying everyone in their previous races. They asked us if we played rugby or had physical jobs which could have been the reason we kept up with them. The look on their face was priceless when our response was "no mate, desk jobs". They replied with how impressed they were and then tried to convince us to sign up for the army. Nice try!

Unfortunately we lost the final race placing 4th overall but as we were still 3 men down it was not that surprising while racing the top teams of the day. It was yet again a very close race between all 4 boats. It was a great day out and another great experience. I have no doubt that I will be back in a dragon boat again in the near future.

Rugby World Cup

One of the great things about Europe is that it is easy to get around and there always seems to be something happening within a short trip away. September 16th turned out to be the day that Canada played Fiji in the Rugby World Cup over in Cardiff. Yes I know you are all thinking that France is hosting the world cup but luckily for me France owed Wales a few games as a few world cups ago Wales didn't have enough stadiums so a few games where played in France. It was time for France to return the favour. I went over with 2 friends on the Saturday morning to head down to a pub in Cardiff bay to watch the Wales vs. Australia game. Just been in Cardiff on game day was an amazing experience. The atmosphere of all the welsh fans was insane (probably on par with Toronto Fans if they made it to the Stanley Cup). Roads closed off, partying in the streets, and people everywhere.

We watched the game with about 30 welsh people at a reserved table (friends of one my friends) and unfortunately Australia came out on top. The Welsh weren't too upset though as England lost to South Africa the day before without scoring a single point. This obviously made the Welsh quite happy. We went out for a few drinks after the game in the city centre of Cardiff and hung out with plenty of Aussies as well who were in high sprits before calling it a night and crashing with a friend down in Cardiff Bay.

The following morning we were up around 11:00 and made our way down to the stadium in the city centre. Only paying £10 a ticket we grabbed a bite to eat and went to find our seats in massive Millennium Stadium. I almost felt like I was home with the Canadian flags waving everywhere and the chants "CANADA...CANADA" echoing throughout the stadium. After a tremendous effort it looked like Canada was about to take the win at the very end. One tri would win it and they were right on the line until a bad pass let Fiji intercept and run end to end to secure the win. As rugby is not something Canada is really well known for they were not expected to win but just to be in the stadium and watch them play was a great experience.


We hung around Cardiff for another few hours after the game enjoy a few drinks and soaking up the World Cup atmosphere before taking the train back to Bristol to call it a night.