Eden Project Half Marathon 9 October 2011
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The course starts and finishes in the Eden Project and takes in the hilly countryside surrounding the site. The first mile of the course is down hill getting the race off to a fast start, from the second mile however the course starts to climb uphill. From then on there are several steepish hills followed by fast downhill sections which makes this undulating course a testing one.
Despite this, the Striders did well taking 2ndlady prize and 2ndplaced womens team.
First to come storming down the fast downhill finish was Jamie Paterson who ran strongly to take 6thplace in a time of 1.26.04. He was followed by Dave Smeath who was placed 12th. Smeath grew up just miles from the Eden Project, which seemed to spur him on achieving a swift time of 1.28.37
The next Strider home was Rachael Elkins who ran the perfect race to claim 2nd womens prize and 29thplace overall in a time of 1.33.18 Rachel Vines followed in 4thplace (38thoverall) in a time of 1.34.32. Elkins and Vines battled well to work their way through the field. The test came during a steep climb at around 8 miles where Elkins pushed on at pace to leave Vines holding off as many women as she could.
Adam Carey ran well to complete this course in 68thplace in a time of 1.39.06.
Patricia Woods, despite a back injury dug deep to complete this challenging but picturesque course. Woods finished in a time of 1.50.01 in 179th place. Jo Bryant completed the squad running well to finish in a time of 2.10.54 in 583rdplace. The womens combined effort resulted in being the 2ndplaced womens team.
Charles Goodwin who had to withdraw from the race due to injury had the toughest job of the day as chief ‘cheerer’. His encouraging shouts made the finishing straight a fantasitic experience. All runners were rewarded with a pasty and a pint after the race which seemed to put the smiles back on their faces.</p>