Antrim Coast Half Marathon 2021: Race Report
Been a minute since I’ve had one of these to write hasn’t it…
I looked it up - There was 336 days between my (previous) last race and the one we’re going to reflect on. 336 Days, 6 cancelled races and more training laps of Tandragee than anyone would care to count. As you can imagine then, it’s rather difficult to articulate the level of excitement I experienced at the chance to finally get a race in at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon.
Famous for being flat and fast, the course saw us take in a loop through the centre of Larne before heading out along the scenic Coast Road as far as Ballygally before returning the way we came to finish on the promenade. As thrilling as it was to finally pin on a race number again, I was also interested to see what the first mass start event of the “Post-Covid” world (first for me at least) was going to look like…
Because the Elite race started at 8am, we’d been advised that roads would be begin to be closed from around 7:30, meaning we had to leave home in Tandragee around 5:15am to get down in time. True to form though, we were unfashionably early. Arriving at the Circular Road car park just after 6:30, we parked up and watched our fellow early birds roll into view, gradually giving way to a steady stream of people who had timed their journey perfectly. The increasing morning light unveiled the conditions we’d face for today’s run - a grey, overcast sky, a gentle breeze rolling in from the sea and an ever-present threat of a light drizzle… perfect.
Missed the ol’ mass start…
The Warm Up area was a 20 minute walk from our selected parking spot in Larne Town Park. I had decided to make my way up for around 8ish in the hope of having time to use the loo as well as going through my usual warm up rituals (calves, quads, blood sacrifices… you know, the usual stuff…) This early arrival would prove to have been a stroke of luck too because I had no sooner gotten to the front of the queue and got sorted than the announcement came across the park “All runners to the start line…”
Now up until the point of starting the race, I had decided it would best to not burden myself with any self-imposed expectations of a target time - partly because I was viewing the race as a training run for the upcoming Belfast Marathon at the beginning of October and figured I’d run it closer to what I hope to call “marathon pace” but also because since that last race almost a year ago, I’ve had quite a lot going on with my health and I honestly couldn’t put a confident finger on what I would really be capable of - so all that being said, the goal was a comfortably paced half marathon that was focused more on gratitude than goal getting.
Then the race started though…
I crossed the start line, hit start on the garmin and suddenly I was a runner again… I was running, I was racing.
5K - 22:05
Up the hill from the Coast Road start line and through the town centre, we swooped down towards the harbour to the applause of the locals who had lined the road to watch us with the same enthusiasm with which they greeted the earlier starting elites. The course boasts very little in the way of hills and even less in the way of elevation change so I figured I could enjoy an energetic start and then fall back to the more bearable “marathon pace” once I would start to get tired… But I didn’t start to get tired…
10K - 44:21
At the point of reaching half way I was feeling great, I’d fallen into a smooth, swift rhythm and the miles, in all honesty, just rolled by as we left the town and head out along the coast. A quick glance at my watch revealed we reached halfway at 46:41 - meaning we were running just shy of the pace needed for 1hr 30 time with no obvious signs of fatigue. My personal best at the start of the race was 1:35, so as long as we could hold the current pace we would cross the line with a time somewhere between 1:35 and 1:30, what’s not to love…
The miles continue to roll by as we reached the turning point and returned down the other side of the coast road along side those yet to make the turn, I’ve rarely had a run feel as good as this one, smooth, efficient and effortless.
When you realise times on your side…
The atmosphere from the coastal residents whose houses we past was every bit as welcoming as those in the city. Every single one of them had come out to wave and offer encouragement. You have to imagine, in times before Covid, they’d all have had water, sweets and fruit to offer to those running by but it was refreshing to see that the atmosphere that makes these races such an experience can withstand the cautionary lens we now have to view the world with.
Around the 18km mark, I could feel the faint beginnings of fatigue but the burn in my legs was salved by the safety of knowing that, short of a fall or similar travesty, I’d done enough to ensure a personal best. The last mile is almost completely downhill along the promenade, daring you to dream that any goal you thought was beyond you could still be within your grasp. The success of my attempt was beyond all doubt though as I crossed the line in 1:32:22 - chopping the top off my PB by roughly two and a half minutes.
The victorious view…
To say I was chuffed was an understatement, to say I expected it would be a lie. There was a time earlier this year when I questioned how well I’d be able to run long distance, if I even could run long distance again, but I’m happy to report that time and patience have proven me wrong on both fronts. Upon reflection, I think that sense of gratitude was a huge factor in allowing me to just run, soak up the day and let the time be what it’s going to be.
So there you have it. A race report that shouldn’t have been almost a year in the making…
I’m glad that running events are a thing again, (and I therefore have something to waffle about) and I’m glad that I’m (apparently) faster than I’ve ever been - it certainly makes training for October’s marathon a lot more encouraging, but you’ll hear all about that in due course.
And finally, thanks to the team behind the Antrim Coast Half Marathon for hosting not only a well organised event, but an even that every runner there needed…
