It was a dry but cold morning at Alton Towers, with the half marathon run over two laps of a very undulating 10k circuit. The course packed in around 1000ft of elevation, along with plenty of twists and turns – not the sort of course to worry about splits, but to race it which was a nice change.
From the start it was clear the race would come down to two of us. We ran together almost the whole way, trading places and pushing the pace throughout, the opposition pushed me on the hills, but I took over on the flatter sections and on descents. The second lap was made tougher by congestion as we caught the 5k runners and the back of the half marathon field. Despite marshals calling for people to keep left, not everyone did, and navigating the crowds became a real challenge.
The race ultimately finished in a sprint. I kicked a little too early, and although I held on as long as I could, I was just edged out on the line.Second place overall by just one second —hard-earned on a tough, busy course.