The Hague Half Marathon

Here is a blog I put together for TheHagueOnline about the City-Pier-City Half Marathon in The Hague last Sunday. I had a goal time of somewhere between 1:40 and 1:45 (and I smashed it with a 1.38 - awesome!).

On Sunday I had a go at The Hague’s biggest sporting event: The CPC Run The Hague. The course is known for being flat and fast and this year I would have plenty of people doing the race with me:10,140 runners had entered for the half marathon.

What a beautiful day for a half marathon. Blue sky, sunny, no wind, 12ºC, almost tropical for this city! And what an impressively organised race. My race bib with timing chip was sent out a week before, so all I had to do on Sunday was turn up to the Malieveld in my runners. Queues for the toilets were short. And there was no pushing and shoving at the start.

The half marathon which headed out along the Javastraat and Groot Hertoginnelaan in the direction of Scheveningen then via the Nieuwe Parklaan back to the finish on the Malieveld, didn’t kick off until 2.30pm. However there had been events all morning including 5 km and 10 km runs and children’s events so there really was a festive atmosphere on the start and finish line.

On the starting gun at 2.30pm, a happy energetic bunch set off from the Malieveld, carrying me along way too fast in the first few kilometres. But it was impossible to slow down with the roadside spectators cheering on their friends and family, such a positive vibe. By the time I got to the 7 km mark, I was feeling the effects of the optimistic pacing at the start - in a word dreadful. The sun that cheered me at the start line was also feeling a little overbearing.

A benevolent volunteer handed me a cup of water with a sponge in it and I walked through the drink station and tried to muster some resolve. I focused on the kilometre markers passing by one at a time and tried to stay with a pack. My husband was on the roadside around 13.5 km mark: he later said he didn’t think I looked too comfortable.

At Scheveningen, around the 16 km mark, my second wind arrived and I noticed those around me were falling back and I was overtaking people who had overtaken me earlier in the race. Mentally, this felt great, but physically my right knee had a stabbing pain on every stride and the sole of my left foot was blistering.

Neverthless I felt confident I could maintain a pace that would get me under my goal time. I just kept plodding along and was delighted when I saw the crowds in grandstands along the last few hundred metres of the race. Just the boost I needed. I finished well under my goal time, a much better performance than I expected. A great race. I’ll be back next year.

At the end!

ABN AMRO CPC Loop Den Haag | Uitslag Catherine Swindles