Cardiff Half Marathon

18th October 2009

Alex Ilyat

This is by far the biggest race I have taken part in (almost 9000 starters) and there was a good atmosphere around the crowds. We even managed to see a few people we recognised, such a small world.

Ian and I pushed our way up to the two hour starting position but even dressed as Bananaman we could get no further. I was in good company as there was also a dragon, Batman and Robin, a Champagne bottle and a very strange jelly baby thing. When the hooter sounded it took a few minutes to cross the start line before breaking into a nice steady jog – my sort of pace! For the first 2 miles we were darting through small gaps in the packs which was quite good fun, Ian started to pull away at about 3miles while I was being interviewed by a lady off of the telly – it never made the final cut though.

I had an argument with a speed bump as we headed into the docks (the speed bump won) and as with all good super hero stories my costume took a slight battering but my secret identity was preserved. The race took in all the landmarks of Cardiff, the Torchwood Hub and the rift, Wevel Park and all the other bits that haven't been on telly. I would recommend running in fancy dress as the crowds are a great motivator, although there was a certain generation of people that recognised Bananaman the kids were more familiar with Batman.

I managed to catch Ian by the 9mile marker but I couldn't hold on to the finish. Ian finished just under 30 seconds in front of me, both of our times were far quicker than Dale (but the course was as flat as a welsh cake). I managed to get on telly, but only in the background and in the newspaper so all in all a successful day out. The race was well organised and was really good fun, highly recommended for next year.

Results