An hour’s less sleep on the day British Summer Time began didn’t deter 1,000 runners from turning up yesterday for the very first Human Race 'Lucozade Sport Race Your Pace Half Marathon' at Dorney Lake, Eton.
Led by double Olympian, and Commonwealth Games marathon bronze medallist, Liz Yelling, the race allowed runners of all abilities to try running at race pace with the help of a team of pacers. The pacers led different groups of varying abilities from 6 minute mile pace up to 12 minute mile pace around the fast, flat, accurate four lap course. The event was in support of the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust.‘Runners of all abilities should understand their pace as it helps them reach their own personal goals on race day,’ said Yelling, who later ran a series of seminars on how to pace yourself on the big occasions.
Yelling, who gave six seminars in total covering topics such as how to refuel during training and racing, was impressed by the turn out. ‘It’s a fantastic event,’ she said, ‘and there is great opportunity for it to grow. It’s the perfect place to hold a pre-marathon race to practice pacing or to run a fast half marathon, given that it’s such a fast course.’
Yelling knows all too well the importance of pacing. After the birth of her daughter, Ruby, she competed in the Wokingham Half Marathon only to discover she’d set off too fast. ‘I should have started more sensibly and run a strong, consistent race’.
Yelling also knows how to judge a race to perfection just when it really matters. ‘Before the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 I ran the London Marathon and paced it exactly to plan. I was able to run the second half strongly, set a personal best time, and secure my slot for the Games,’ she explained.
One of yesterday’s many competitors using the event to prepare for next month’s Virgin London Marathon was double amputee, Richard Whitehead.
Whitehead, a congenital amputee, is the current world record holder for leg amputees in both the half and marathon distance and is also the first ever leg amputee to compete the marathon distance in under three hours.
‘I felt really comfortable and the pacers were great,’ he said afterwards. ‘My aim was to run 1hr 20 minutes but I felt comfortable enough to speed up slightly and came home in 1hr 18 minutes,’ he added. Whitehead’s time was good enough for 8th place overall.
The winner, Simon James, from London came home in 1hr 16.40. ‘I really enjoyed it,’ said James, 31. 'At first I felt daunted at the prospect of four laps, but it went really well. The wind prevented me from setting a PB, but it was the practice I was looking for before this year’s London Marathon,’ he said. James, who ran home in 2hr 38 at last year’s London Marathon, hopes to better that time this year.
James was part of a group of five men including Jim McConnel, a regular Human Race competitor and winner of the Merrell MudMan Series, but none could hold James’s pace as he pulled clear in the final 500m.
In the women's race, Corrine Abraham led from the start to finish crossing the line in 1hr 23.37. Throughout the four laps she’d been pursued by a group of three including Amy Forshaw, Alison Hopkins and Fari Shams. As the finishing line loomed it was Forshaw who surged ahead to take second, followed by Hopkins.
Although the lead pack left the pacers behind most competitors were happy to stick with their pacers and learn how to put pace into race practice.
‘With the support of Lucozade Sport this is a fantastic event for those wanting to get their pace on target and come home with a PB, helped by the pacers. We hope it will become a firm fixture in the racing calendar,’ said John Lunt, MD of Human Race.
Full results can be found on our RESULTS PAGE.
MEN
1. Simon James 1:16:40
2. Jim McConel 1:16:51
3. Caspar Prestidge 1:17:01
4. Roger Barr 1:17:19
5. Mattieu Ribault 1:17:30
8. Richard Whitehead 1:18:00
WOMEN
1. Corrine Abraham 1:23:37
2. Amy Forshaw 1:25:01
3. Alison Hopkins 1:25:24
4. Fari Shams 1:26:08
5. Christina Tomlinson 1:28:32
For the latest information from Lucozade Sport's Sport Science and to learn more about their commitment to running please visit www.lucozade.com/running
About The Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust: Dame Kelly’s vision in setting up her own charity was to make a difference to young people in disadvantaged communities using sports stars as inspirational role models and mentors. Their mission is to inspire young people to find and fulfil their potential in sport or in life through a workforce of elite sports performers. They work directly with young people as role models and mentors, encouraging them to find and believe in their own potential through a series of innovative projects. To get more involved with their Charity or to join Kelly’s Charity Runners please email
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or visit www.dkhlegacytrust.org for more information.
