Folkestone Half Marathon – Race Report
‘Report by Chris Brown’
Folkestone Rotary Half Marathon
There was a great turn out on Sunday as 10 TRACies participated in the Folkstone Rotary half marathon. Jo Holl, Jon Holl, Dada Oluwatosin, Lizo Nyqobongwana, Liz Brown, Chris Brown, Georgia Hughes, Maxwell Hubbard , Spencer Hoult and Peter Johnson all arrived to near perfect race conditions. Sadly Russell Jones had to drop out at the last minute due to a slight niggle he didn’t want to make worse.
The event was well organised, extremely well marshalled and besides the big hill at the end, a nice course. Much of the proceeds of the event are donated to charities which was also nice to hear.
There was a fantastically warm atmosphere between all of the TRAC club runners before the race and an overwhelming feeling of camaraderie. Jo had managed to work this race in to her training programme and came to support Jon and the rest of the club runners. Max was much the same.
The race went well for most of us, Georgia with an outstanding performance finishing 2nd female and setting a new PB, Chris smashing his PB by 13 minutes. Jo who managed to run on/off miles as part of her training plan, which must have required unbelievable discipline within a race environment. As the club runners began to finish we made our way back to the finish straight to cheer on the others. This is where it really started to hit home to me as to why our club is that little bit more special. As soon as Max finished he was straight back to the home straight to join Georgia, Chris and Jo and was cheering the loudest of anyone else there for the other club runners as they came in. Peter Johnson was next, closely followed by Liz finishing her first ever 13.1 mile distance and the pride she had in herself for achieving something she didn’t think she would ever do, was evident for all to see. Jon Holl and Olu came over the line together with Jon coaching, supporting and encouraging Olu to a 5 minute PB.
Lizo was next and I hope he doesn’t mind me telling his story because that man has the heart of a lion!
In his words “the wheels came off at 9 miles”. How deep did he have to dig to make it to the end of that race? As he came down the home straight he had a forward lean that gradually increased. The club runners were concerned by his posture but it wasn’t until the commentator announced that he was going to go down, could someone catch him that Liz and I sprinted (funny what you have left when you need it) to get under each arm. Jon and Jo were quickly there and with Jon sitting Lizo down and elevating his legs, Jo handed out the Jelly beans and Lizo quickly returned to his happy smiling self.
Spencer, who has been battling his first major injury in years was next across the line. At the start he was full of doubt, not sure that he could manage it. But due to his determination and the support of his friends within the club, he too managed to cover the full 13.1 miles.
Almost everyone, as soon as they had finished, were asking to see if results were in for Chris and Nikki taking part in Berlin Marathon the same day. Another example of this clubs members support of others which summed up this weekend. To me, this is the perfect answer to the question I always see the runner of the month get asked – “what does the club mean to you?” This race demonstrated the passion for running within ‘like minded’ people who want to see others succeed. People who take as much joy from helping others achieve their goals as achieving their own. People that care enough to stand on the home straight (shivering as they start to cool down) shouting at the top of their voice words of encouragement for their fellow club runners as they reach the end of the race.
Final Chip Times
43rd Georgia Hughes 1:33:01 – Second Lady (PB)
65th Chris Brown 1:36:22 (PB)
136th Jo Holl – 1:45:45
126th – Maxwell Hubbard – 1:44:46
175th Peter Johnson 1:49:17
203rd Liz Brown 1:51:35 (PB)
250th Jon Holl – 1:55:00
251st Oluwatosin Duda 1:55:01 (PB)
383rd Lizo Ngqobongwana 2:05:59
440th Spencer Hoult 2:10:48
Total 593 Participants.
What a lovely report and some truly outstanding performances. Well done Team TRAC!!