Hadrians Wall Half Marathon, 13th October 2024
Three of our hardy Claremonters tackled The Wall on Sunday, Julie Cross sends this report:
“It was an inspired move on the part of Liz during the summer to suggest this Wild Deer event: imagine Northumberland in all its Autumn glory! Then the various niggles & bits of life get in the way of training; and then the first cold, really cold, snap. And…to rub it in, an extra long wait for the shuttle bus at the start in no more than 2 degrees. Even for one who dabbles in sea swimming, that cold got through to the core. Not the most ideal race prep, but we ‘femmes d’un certain âge’ know when to chill, take in the scenery and just worry about what to wear.
The race had a staggered start and, in my wisdom gained though many valuable running lessons, I had entered us into wave 9/10, completely underestimating to factor in the HUGE climb from the start, then another, and another, then all the highly entertaining ups and downs. Add the rain from last week into the mix and the first 6 miles aiming to stay upright to the tones of Simon & Garfunkel ringing in my cold ears…Slip Slidin’ Away ay-ay-ay-ay. All against the backdrop of that unbeatably stunning section of the wall, along from Housesteads towards Chollerford. Wow.
There was another what not to wear issue: shoes. For me, the jury is still out on whether trail shoes are worth the investment. I decided a pair of trainers with intuitive pop out grips would be jolly handy, because the second half of the race was lots of track & path to Newbrough and Warden. And largely downhill…which bizarrely hurt after all the undulations. A small inconvenience could have been the bottlenecks in the last third along the narrow river path. More than once I chose to slow down in case a sneaky tree root diverted me into the river, which you should never, ever visualise while running along a narrow, busy river path.
We had been instructed to let faster runners through, and an air of ‘no, please, after you’ largely prevailed, all a breath of fresh air to one still getting to grips with the medium pack in the Harrier League. I am still not sure how far it was, but I believe 13.8…the very long drag after the 13 mile marker was a sneaky sting in the tail, before the stunning autumnal finish in Tyne Green Park. It was gorgeous and tough. Nothing not to like if you love outdoors, Northumberland and a bit of up & down.”
Modest as ever, Julie neglects to mention she finished 3rd in her age category (out of over 100!), well done Julie!
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 155 | Julie Cross (3rd F50) | 2:06:58 |
| 280 | Liz Denyer | 2:19:54 |
| 699 | Nina Jensen | 3:43:16 |
