Prostate Cancer

Race Over - Time to call in the pledges.

First - a big thank you to all those who have made donations to the Prostate Cancer Charity online at my Just Giving page and those of you who have given me cash or cheques to pass on to the charity.

Second - a reminder of what it is all about.

March Aware
March is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

In the UK:

• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men
• 250,000 men are living with prostate cancer
• 1 man dies from prostate cancer every hour.

The Prostate Cancer Charity provides:

• Funds for research
• Support to those affected
• Information - including email and telephone help lines.

This year there are 10 research projects at an investment of nearly £1.8M.

Neoadjuvant Androgen Deprivation Therapy
Recent research shows that using hormone therapy in conjunction with radiotherapy for treatment of advanced prostate cancer can reduce the potential side effects of radiotherapy including impotence and heart attack.

In The Lancet Dr Chris Parker said:-

"This trial confirms that NADT reduces mortality significantly after radiotherapy for high-risk prostate cancer.”

Statistics

Time
The winner was Kenyan Edwin Kipkorir with race and chip times of 01:04:00.

My race time - from when the gun went off to when I finished - 02:18:21
My chip time - from when I crossed the start time to when I finished - 02:12:56

I crossed the 10Km mark - nearly half-way - less than 3 minutes before the winner finished.

From which you can tell that I did not start until 6 minutes after the gun and it took me more than twice as long as the winner to complete the distance.

Quantity
It is difficult to find out how many people finished the Bath Half Marathon.

The preliminary official results on the website show that I was placed 7907 race time out of 10823 finishers, or 8115 out of 10823 finishers on my chip time.

Among the Veteran Males over 60 my place was shown as 93 (race) and 97 (chip) out of 154. Did I achieve the "standard" for my age do you think?

The Bath Chronicle results show me as 7924 in an ordered list of 10909 names - with times shown for those up to 10848. Sandwiched between a couple of 40 year-old “vets”. Not bad.

So which is right? Does it matter?

Know Your Place
Whichever way you look at it I came in the third quartile.

A comfortable place to be.

Bath - Empire Hotel, Pulteney Bridge and weir.

Except that "Comfortable Place" is on the Upper Bristol Road. The race route passes it.

2012 Bath Half

Priority entries are already open for next year. Shall I go for it?



The Race

They told me about the spirit of the Bath Half. What an amazing experience.

Waiting in the sheep pens before the start was very chilly so I was glad I had looked at the forecast and opted for my warm gear. I prefer to be too hot than too cold. My supporters said I looked very much focused at the start. I think they meant I ignored them. Well I didn’t know they were there. Picked them out later at Queen's Square.

The size of the event truly hit me when I came round the first corner at the end of Poultney Street and saw the crowd or runners ahead of me spread to the distant horizon. Kept a fairly easy pace at the beginning - no other choice really, being hemmed in all around.

Tried to get into Zen mode early on by thinking of all the important landmarks I was passing - the hotel where our wedding reception was held, the ugly office block where I worked in Room 101, the Old Register Office where we were married, the B&B that I stayed in on my first ever visit to Bath, the pub - now tarted up - where my mates and I would go to play pool and eat a curry, the stretch of Newbridge Road where I got cramp in my thigh on a training run - oops Zen moment gone - don’t think about cramp. But some other poor guy has just got it near the same spot!

Despite the Keep Left rule on lap 1 the officials had to clear the way for the elite runners doing their 2nd lap along the Lower Bristol Road. The elite runners got applause not just from the spectators but from us 1st lappers also.

Got some refreshment at a drinking point and then further on, after safely disposing of the bottle in one of the bins provided (and not under the feet of other runners), I spotted a vacant loo with no queue. Tactical wee stop with minimum down time.

The 10Km point turned out not to be an arch at all but a trip-strip taped to the ground.

At Churchil Bridge round the circuit 2nd time. Ran to the rhythm of the music provided by roadside groups - drums spurred me uphill into Queen’s Square again.

I had been told that the hardest part is the second lap along Lower Bristol Road where you are tired and can see for miles the distance still to cover. This was true. It did require some grit and determination.

From Widcombe concentrating on a steady pace over the last mile seemed to work - and I did not succumb to the forbidden temptation of a sprint finish - although some around me did and suffered for their art.

Very impressed by some of the costumed runners. It must be hard to run strapped to a big boob. There was a group from the RUH pushing an occupied wheelchair. An heroic effort and the guy in the chair was brave.

Legs did strange things after end of race - my Groucho Mark impression.

Official chip time - 2hr 12min 56sec
Within "Hard Target" time of 3 hours and "Stretch Target" time of 2.5 hours.
Bonus?

Smug Old Git.

Discovered afterwards I had lost my heart rate monitor chest strap.

"There it was - gorn".

Upset Muchly. Must have left it on the floor of the mixed changing tent. Much Costly.

Finished

Job Done

Garmin time 2 hours 13 minutes. Result subject to official confirmation.

A Memorable Moment

"One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other." - Emma - Jane Austen

Preview

Advance Warning

Tomorrow is the big day.

Today is:-

1. Re-read the race instructions
2. Check have everything needed
3. Prepare list of things to do on day
4. Select sacrificial warm top for pre-race waiting around
5. Arrange drop-off and pick up by Mrs Taxi

My number is high and orange. This means that I start off from the sheep pen at the back of the grid. Long tramp from the runners’ village through the tunnel into Grove Street and then turn back into Henrietta Street. Walk almost half a mile to the start! Advice is to arrive early.

Keep Cool

The Bath Half Marathon website shows the route.

Down Poultney Street towards the Holburne Museum. Right into Poultney Road, under the railway bridge at North Parade junction, curve around the back of Widcombe - past the deepest canal lock in Britain, the hotel by the canal where we had our reception, and the rear entrance of The Ram. Cross the Avon at Churchill Bridge by the new bus station - still not big enough or integrated with the railway station.

The Busometer - Bath Bus Station

Turn left past the end of Quay House, where I worked in Room 101 in the last Century. Curve right past Green Park old station where the Somerset and Dorset trains started for Bournemouth. Slow and Dirty they called it - but it was faster and more direct than now (change at Southampton). Then an uphill bit past the curry house and sewing machine shop to Queen Square.

Exit Queen Square past the old Register Office where we were married. Pound down the Upper Bristol Road alongsde the allotments and Vickie Park. Somewhere about here I will be lapped by the eventual winner. The instructions say Keep Left.  This is not a political statement.

Gasometer - Bath

On past The New Westhall, and Bath Coke and Light, to the north end of Windsor Bridge where the mini-Tesco site still awaits planning permission.Uphill past The Weston and The Old Red House and the long drag down Newbridge Road.

Every town has a “street of a thousand B&Bs”. In Bath, Newbridge Road is it.

Cross the Avon again - near where I had my retirement “do” at a not to be recommended venue so I won't mention it - and turn back towards Bath along Lower Bristol Road.

Past the southern end of Windsor Bridge and past all the car dealers. Under the 10Km arch - or you don’t get a time - and back across Churchill Bridge for lap 2. This is going to be a hard bit. You are supposed to do lap 2 faster than lap 1 - on the basis that part of lap 1 is warming up and on lap 2 the crowd of runners thins out so overtaking is easier.

A reliable source told me that the hardest bit is the Lower Bristol Road second time around. On this long stretch if the fatigue and long view of the distance still to be covered does not depress you then the militant nihilism of the new architecture will.

Don’t go under the 10Km arch second time around - that would confuse the timing chip! After that it seems to be a relentless rise to the finish. Don’t sprint to the finish is the official advice. Chance would be a fine thing. Tortoise not hare.

Drink!

Bath - World Heritage City.