Bath Half Marathon

[Nigel]

Forecast is looking good for Sunday. Dry, sunshine, maybe a little breezy (sounds familiar after Reading), and 11 degrees C.

As I remember, the course is gently downhill to the city centre, with one incline in the town centre past lots of spectators, and then the usual traffic arteries (definitely best NOT to run on the right) and a relatively brief encounter with a council estate. Then it's gently uphill to a roundabout, and a long drag into the city centre to cross the bridge and do it all again. Only snag is that if you reach 10k much over one hour you can be lapped by the leaders. Real motivation to get moving early on.

The second lap is much like the first, except that the previously "gentle" downhill at the start is now a much harder climb given its location from 12.1 to 13.1 miles. There was a youngish male runner being resuscitated on the pavement by an ambulance crew as I ran this stretch last year. Must say that this provided an extra excuse to listen to the demons telling me to take it easier as my own oxygen overdraft accumulated.

Runners gather on the Recreation Ground, home of Bath Rugby Club and one of the most scenic sports grounds in the country. Hope we can meet up there before the race....