THE DASH WAS DONE!!! Revd. Lizzie reports on the run We did it! – From the start in Bath by the famous Royal Crescent all the way back to the just as epic Fish in Fishponds. A 13.1 miles half marathon. As someone who has never run that far before, I was given some advice by an experienced runner– “Enjoy it”. And that might seem a strange thing to say, but it was in fact very enjoyable. The cycle path was beautiful that day and just starting to blossom in April, with the bluebells joining us along our route. The day was bright and sunny and slightly hotter than we expected as we left Bath and followed, first the towpath by the canal, and then the cycle path up to Saltford. The hardest challenge of the stretch came from Saltford to Bitton, as although we were 6 miles into the run, we still felt a long way from home. The cycle path is quite exposed on that slight incline upwards and without the reprieve of a little shade it was this bit that felt challenging. However, before long we were all running into Warmley, and the steep hill up to the bridge which we all thought would feel really tough was in fact fine. 10 miles in at that point we knew that we could do it. Just before the Staple Hill tunnel we had a lovely surprise as Matt and Katie Leaver ran to meet us to cheer us on –and “run us home” and we really needed it at that point! The final mile felt hard on the legs but good in the heart and head and before we knew it, in 2 hours and 27 minutes we had arrived at the Fish. Flo’s measurements were spot on. A little team of folks managed to meet us and it was brilliant to 17
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