09/06/2026
Needles Half Marathon Race Debrief
🌟1:52:13
🌟4th Female
🌟37th out of 124
🌟Longest distance to date post kids
The goal was sub 1.50 and top 5 female. So slightly disappointed in my time. But equally have to remind myself that I’m returning to fitness post baby, this is a great benchmark to build on, and I’m still running on broken sleep and feeding a baby (thoughts on this coming in another post) - so actually just been on the start line is an achievement🙌🏻!
First time wearing team kit and great to be able to meet up with some Vectis runners pre and post race💚. Great to feel part of this community. Special shout out to Mr J and the kids for cheering me on throughout the course and friends along the way too! And of course it wouldn’t be possible without all the volunteers and marshals across the course - much appreciated.
The first half felt tough. If I’m honest I wasn’t really enjoying it and my head wasn’t really in the game. And the steps from Totland really killed the legs! However, looking at my splits I did go out quite fast for the first 5k so maybe that’s why it felt hard😳!
However, when I got to Headon Warren (my favourite section from the 3 Hills race), I started to find my stride. The small trail paths, having to really focus on the terrain and the peace in the hills was so very welcome. This is actually a photo coming down from that section and you can see how happy I am🥰!
The first point I had any idea of the distance I had covered was the 10 mile sign at the start of the assent up Tennyson - I hadn't looked at my watch once. Although, I had an idea of what time I would like to get, I also wanted to tune into my body and see what I was capable of.
Hadn't trained with food or run for over 1.5 hours (the time threshold that requires you to take on extra carbs/sugar) - so popped a couple of sweets in my pocket and had these for a little boost on the course😋. Definitely need to start training with snacks now I plan to take on longer distances
Next race Newport to Ryde (7 miles, 4th July) and then plan to do the marathon in October (however having just done a half marathon, this seems like a very long way…)🫠...