Krakkow 1/2m Tour

Mike and Linda Younger hosted another one of their increasingly popular ‘Tewkesbury Running Club On Tour’, as 14 TRC members went to race the Krakow Half Marathon on Sunday 13th October.

Along with he 14 club runners, a total of 23 people enjoyed the long weekend break in Krakow - enjoying the unseasonably warm weather that follows TRC on all their abroad races! The group found Krakow a beautiful city and the food and drink proved to be amazingly cheap.

As usual, everyone couldn’t resist using too much energy tramping around sightseeing prior to the race. A moving visit was made to Auschwitz-Birkenau, something that will never be forgotten.

Just under 9000 runners took part on the pretty flat and fast Krakow course - a large number of runners compared to how narrow the course can get in places. However the TRC runners were ready for their battle with not only the distance, but also the heat... 22'C in the shade.

Leading the troops home first was Ian Smith. Ian had trained and planned for a run in the low 1hr 40mins time range, but was soon hit by the heat and had to be content with 1hr 52mins.

Mike Younger followed in 1hr 56mins, unhappy with the time but it was to be expected as he was suffering with a bit of a chest infection and had not been able to get in many tempo paced training runs needed. Again, as with Ian, the first half of the race went to plan but the pace took a dive as the temperature rose.

Next in was Sharon Lockley. She has been in great form of recent and had been putting in some great mileage of late, but sadly Sharon felt unwell the day before and on the day of the race. Sharon bravely battled on through the heat and despite being physically sick during the race, recorded 2hrs 1mins.

Linda Younger and Jo Chandler planned and ran a very steady race, satisfied with a consistent pace and 2hr 05mins finish.

Dave Aguirre, on the back of very little training, was hot on their heels, 5 seconds behind Linda and just 1 behind Jo. They were unaware of how close they were as Dave started some 10 minutes before the ladies.

Roy Northcott came in with a time of 2hr 07mins, about what he would have anticipated on his training base and in the heat.

Lynda Gardiner has been in great form this autumn, and did well to nearly match her excellent Great North Run performance with 2hr 09mins.

Laura Kent accompanied a member of the tour group for the first part of the race but then pushed on to record another great time of 2hrs 16mins.

Sheena Moseley was a little off her normal pace with 2hr 17mins but is well know to hate any temperature in double figures.

Lindy Fouracre was happy to get round the course in 2hr 26mins after having a stomach ailment for the whole weekend.

Tonia Whitebeam, fresh from Cardiff Half marathon the previous week, accompanied a fellow runner from the TRC tour group for a 2hr 28mins finish.

Sam Robinson, a bit rusty after spending many of her autumn runs looking after TRC’s new runners aka The Jolly Joggers, timed in at 2hr 31mins

Doug Clark, 2.48 cruised in safely.

Bearing in mind a very cheap entry fee, everyone was delighted with a great teeshirt and medal. Future away weekend trips shall now be focussed on the exciting looking SuperHalfs - A series of Half Marathons that takes some of Europe’s biggest and glamorous races - Lisbon, Prague, Copenhagen, Cardiff and Valencia.

Times:

Ian Smith 1.52.33

Mike Younger 1.56.08

Sharon Lockley 2.01.46

Linda Younger 2.05.37

Jo Chandler 2.05.41

Dave Aguirre 2.05.42

Roy Northcott 2.07.52

Lyn Gardiner 2.09.51

Laura Kent 2.16.33

Sheena Moseley 2.17.27

Lindy Fouracre 2.26.27