Cape Point Half Marathon - My First (Ever)!

Cape Point Half Marathon – A Kind of Running

There were howling gales for about 36 hours before the day, and horrific winds on the actual day, although the sun was shining brightly. At least it wasn’t raining as well! We parked up in the car park at Buffels Bay, along with everyone else, and sat in the car for about half an hour, (along with everyone else!) rather than stand out in the wind. I did have to get out eventually, though, to go and find the toilets! Mmm, can I last the length of the race before needing another “comfort” break!

Then, we walked up the hill to the start – and I went to find the toilets up there too!

The start line was about 100m from the Visitors Centre. Hoped the run would start on time because it was cold! Pleased that it did start on time - at 7:30 and set off. Why do I feel almost emotional before the start of a race?! Excitement? Nerves? The fact that I might not finish???

We were off! Well, the ones at the front were! 30 seconds later, being at the back, I crossed the line too! The first few kms we warmed up a bit and didn’t attempt to go very fast at all. There was a sort of eery silence – like the silence on aircraft, on its descent, about 10 minutes before it lands, and everyone seems to go quiet! Well, silent apart from a bit of heavy breathing around me (or was that the wind blowing?)!

We continued along the road, turning off downwards towards the Cape of Good Hope, and ran a few kms down there, where there was a turnaround point and then back the way we had come. The view was fantastic, just a pity it was so windy. Thank goodness for my Hilly headband! There was a drinks station down there, which was much appreciated by that time too.

I walked up the hill as there didn’t seem much point in running and using all that energy up after just 35/40 minutes! Anyway, everyone else around me also walked up!

At the top we went back the way we had come, and Steve was at the Visitors Centre waiting for me to appear again. I took another drink and had some of my sports jellies! Good excuse to walk for 30 seconds! Running with jellies in the mouth doesn’t work as they tend to get spat out all over the place – not nice!

Continued up the road until we reached Circular Road and, suddenly, the wind was behind me (sort of) – for a km or so anyway, so not too bad. But then, we turned right, and – ouch! – a headwind so strong it knocked you backwards! And sideways! It was so open and flat at that point, the wind could blow across with all its force. From about 13kms most people were walking, with a little bit of (a kind of) running thrown in to impress those around them! It battered off the number that was pinned on to the back of my shirt and I had to carry it around with me for the rest of the way! Phew!

It was with a huge amount of relief that I eventually got back on the main road again. 17kms marker – great! I think it was the thought that I would eventually turn away from the wind that kept me going! Off I went again, at a sort of medium plod, then I reached the 18kms marker. I’ve never run further than that before – wow! I speeded up a bit then, and started telling myself that I was on “virgin soil” now and I was “doing real well”! I really picked up the speed for the last few kms. There was no-one very close in front, and the closest runner was a lady in red and yellow about 50 metres away. There was another lady – in pink - about 50 metres in front of her, but she dived off into the bushes so I didn’t have to worry about her! I gradually caught up with the lady in red and yellow , and we spent a minute or so overtaking each other alternately. At about 19.5kms it was getting quite exciting as we started to run alongside each other and even chatted to each other – we were nearly finished. I had nearly finished my very first half marathon!

We ran together the rest of the way, turning left down the hill to Buffels Bay, the fact that we were nearly finished making us go faster! Which way to go? We weren’t sure where we were to go at the bottom of the hill but a marshall directed us left and we kept going. I just wish the finish line was clearer so we both knew when to stop running. Anyway, eventually we did see it – there was someone handing out medals, so that had to be the finish! And, yes, there was a line there drawn across the road! Hooray!

2hr 29min 17 sec – according to my watch! So very pleased, because I had wanted to do it in less than 2hr 30min! I felt that was ok considering the amount of walking I had had to do around Circular Road in the wind. And I had actually felt really good whilst running – nothing hurt! And, even more exciting, I wasn’t the last one in after all!

Yay! When’s the next one???