It might have been a cool, damp morning in Cambridge for the 2019 Half Marathon, but the streets were blazing hot, streaked with green and a tinge of blue.
By the first timing point, at 3.8K, the leader and eventual winner, Michael Kallenberg from Cardiff had a sizeable lead, that certainly took the crowd by surprise as he went through. Not far behind, was Sam, looking comfortable in a small chasing pack of four runners.
At this narrow, early point on the course, it was difficult to spot other BVH runners in the field and with the pace of the leaders, it was soon a rush to find a way across the River Cam to watch at Mile 10. On the way, I walked into Sally, Geoff, Dave and John, who helpfully mentioned that with Ryan running to raise money for Cancer Research UK, he was running in a blue, Cancer Research UK vest (otherwise I’d still be in Cambridge looking for him in BVH green).
Standing next to the Mile 10 bagpipe player, with the runners more spread out, it was much easier to try and see everyone as they went through. Sam’s group had slimmed to just 3, Ryan was running on his own, as was Faith, while Nelly and Simon were in and among other runners. All of them looked to be focused, running well and digging in for the final 3 miles.
And as they crossed the finished line, there were some fantastic results for BVH:
Sam Coyne finished 6th overall, and 4th in his 25-29 age group and slashed a massive 2m38s off his 2018 time, setting a new male club half marathon record – 1:10:00 – platinum standard.
Ryan Davidson ran his first half marathon in 1:17:12 – diamond standard, finishing 12th in his 20 – 24 age group.
Faith Viney ran her first half marathon in 1:24:24 – diamond standard, finishing as 13th lady and 2nd in her 20 – 24 age group.
Nelly Sunaway ran her first half marathon in 1:35:28 – gold standard, finishing 17th lady in her 25 – 29 age group.
Simon Alcock ran his first half marathon in a BVH vest in 2:11.08.
Overall, it was a great event to watch, with over 8,350 finishers this year.