Swansea Half-marathon, 8th June 2025
A jubilant report from Wales, by Cate Walker:
“This was probably the worst organised Half Marathon I have run (admittedly, I only have four other events to compare it to), but the friendliest and the prettiest. It was also my first ever race (I think my first ever run!) in Wales, and the first time I dipped under 1 hour 50 for a Half. So, despite the slight chaos as the staggered pen system appeared to be on paper only, the ensuing 1.5 miles I spent weaving around people at the beginning of the race, and the fact that the start/finish arch was erected the wrong way around (confusing!), I know I’ll have very fond memories of this one.
I had signed up almost a year ago at a conference with a friend who works at Cardiff Uni. She was trying to find an incentive to start running again, and I said if she found a Half she wanted to do near to her, I’d do it too. Within minutes, the stage was set for my first Welsh running venture.
It was the perfect morning weather-wise – bright, sunny, but fresh after rain the previous day, and with a wind that only occasionally felt like a minor obstacle, and was probably pushing us along for the last long stretch. I hadn’t been to Swansea since I was a child, but remembered the lovely beaches in the area, and Mumbles Pier. The course didn’t quite take in the latter, although we got close, and we had a good 4 miles of running with beautiful views across Swansea Bay.
Having looked at the course in advance, I’d made it a course of three parts in my mind – 5 miles around the town, with a brief dip into the University campus, 4 miles out to Mumbles on a closed road, and 4 back along the seafront. This mental splitting process helped me enjoy the route and pace myself on the day.
In previous Half Marathons I’ve tended to aim for faster times in the opening miles to ‘buy myself time’ in the latter ones, but this time I decided to try and be as consistent as I could be. I knew I needed to average under 8:23 minute miles to achieve my goal of sub-1:50, so I tried to stay as close as I could to 8 minute miles for as long as possible.
Whilst there was a gradual slowing of pace as time went on, I’m pleased that I was within 10 seconds of 8 minutes for my first 5 miles, and then again at mile 8, with 8:37 my slowest mile overall (mile 11). As I reached mile 12, I had over 10 mins before I would hit 1:50, but I pressed on, actually enjoying the last mile which was a big contrast to my previous Half experiences. I was even cogent enough to see as I approached it that yes, the finish arch really did say Start on it.
Along the way, the crowd support was amazing, with people generously shouting my name in encouragement, kids holding out hands for high fives, sweets being held out and plenty of smiles. There were regular water stations and one with electrolyte drinks, and even though I poured more water onto myself than I drank, I’m sure this helped me to keep up my pace much more consistently than previously.
At the end of the course, there were lots of drinks and sweet treats on offer (although unmanned containers meant later participants missed out, sadly) and we also got a buff in addition to the medal. An unexpected perk was a free sports massage tent, which I also made use of. I had a good 30 seconds or so of beaming to myself through the hole in the massage bed as I reflected on my PB of 1:48:35, before the realities of the sports massage changed my beam to a grimace. The beam was soon back though, and I suspect will still be with me as I journey back up to the North East.”
