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Thursday, 16 January 2025

Pacing Coventry Half Marathon: Spitting at Dogs, Sweeties & Fake Mark

Our local running shop, Coventry Runner put a shout out for pacers for the Coventry Half Marathon. Sounds fun. Sounds simple. What could go wrong?



I was to be a back marker which meant I'd be coming in at around 3 hours 30 minutes. Awesome. A nice run, a bit of sightseeing around Coventry and some volunteering. Sounded a grand morning out.  

I bought LOADS of packs of sweeties and had absolutely stuffed my running pack full so if anyone was struggling then I could feed them sugar. I checked the route, packed waterproofs and was feeling prepared. Do the pacing, tea and medals (and ideally cake) and then the train to Birmingham to go to work. 



It was all so simple. Then I realised that trains didn't run early enough to get me to the start.

Bother. 

All the best thrown-together plans and all that …

Wangled a lift to Coventry with the long-suffering husband and jumped out - straight into a puddle - into the pouring rain to look for the start of the event. It really was awful weather.  


Managed to get into the registration building early as I was volunteering and snaffled a spot in the warm and a bright green race t-shirt with 'PACER' written on it. Uh-oh! Official now. 



I declined a pacer flag though. It just seemed like an accident waiting to happen. 

I could see myself
a) Forgetting I was wearing it, try and go to toilet with it on and end up kebabbed on the cistern like some kind of toilet chain toy. 
b) Bending over to tie a shoelace and accidentally spear someone like I was competing in a medieval knight jousting tournament.
c) Forgetting to take it off, heading to the train station, get electrocuted on the overhead lines and die a grisly and melty death.

Nope. Must remain like professional pacer and avoid accidental stabbings, joustings or electrical incidents.



I met Lisa, Vicky and Laura. They were also pacing the back of the pack. They looked professional and as though they knew what they were doing. They had flags. I had sweeties.

I was given a radio. This seemed like a terrible idea. 



We headed outside. It was raining harder. Large puddles had formed on the roads, deep enough to drown a short person in. I was glad I'd worn my trainers with the big soles. 

There were a lot of members of my running club running today and I jumped into the group photo, although my kit didn't match. I was tempted to smile with my mouth closed so I didn't inadvertently drown in the rain. 



It was time for the off! Vicky and I would back mark the event and stay behind the last runners and Lisa and Laura would take the 3:30 pacing and stay on target for the 3 hours 30 runners.

The horn went, the runners all got excited and we were over the line! Everyone was running including the people at the back so we got a bit of a trot on. As everyone was in front of the 3 hour 30 time at the moment, Vicky, Lisa and Laura and all could all run together and have a chat as we went which was lovely. I love, love love hearing about other people's running journeys and adventures … proper motivation!



Lisa and Laura had to keep an eye on the pace they were going as they were marking a specific time, whereas Laura and I just needed to stay behind the last runner so the organisers would know when the roads were clear and they could re-open. 

We had ONE job. Stay behind the last runner.

Gradually Lisa and Laura moved in front of us and receded into the distance. Vicky and I had one runner between us and she was mainly run-walking. She had certainly dressed for the weather and had a hiking pack and waterproof trousers on. Definitely had planned for the damp conditions.  

I wish I'd brought waterproof trousers. At the rate the rain was coming down I'd need a canoe as well. 


Stay behind the last runner. ONE job.

We lost the woman. She didn't seem to understand the idea of a closed road event and  kept taking shortcuts between buildings and hedges and in one totally confusing moment, she went the wrong way around the roundabout (which had been closed for the half marathon) and went across open roads using the pedestrian crossing buttons. 

We were confused. But it was HER event. If she wanted to go odd ways, that's fine. 

Or it was until we couldn't see her any more. Crap. Vicky and I had been catching up about all the cool events we fancied doing and were chatting as we were walking and had taken our eyes off the woman. 

And she'd vanished. 

Oh hang on. There she is behind a hedge. 

Like behind an actual hedge. 

There was more to this back marking than I'd expected. Certainly more hide'n'seek than I'd expected. 

Vicky and I vowed to keep her in sight. And again. Got chatting. And she vanished. Again. 

We stood still and then turned in complete circles. Couldn't see any hedges she might be hiding behind. Ah man. We'd messed up. 

I ran up the road to halt the event car behind us and confess that we'd lost the runner. 

Then Vicky called out. She'd spotted our missing runner coming out of a corner shop. It didn't really seem the time for a spot of shopping but who are we to judge when you might need to grab a pint of milk or a tin of beans. 

Our lost runner was now sitting at a bus stop outside the shop with her race number on. I thought I'd better have a quick chat and check she was ok. She said she just lived down the road and was getting a bus home. Um ok. Totally cool with us. Had she decided she was done with the half marathon? Yes. Apparently so. 

Fair enough. Left her to catch her bus. 

Vicky and I got to have a bit of a run now as we hurried on to catch up with the next last runner. It was pretty cold in the rain so it was nice to get a bit of a trot to warm up. I'd definitely underestimated how cold it was and although I was wearing waterproofs, the rain was so constant it was creeping inside collars and up sleeves.



However, the support on the course was incredible. Everyone had nice things to say as we passed. We were right at the back, but there were plenty of people still out supporting, even in the awful weather and lots of proud Coventrians waving Sky Blue flags, supporting their friends and fellow city dwellers out pounding the roads. It was lovely and made me feel very proud to be part of this event. 

Vicky and I decided to catch up to the 3:30 pacers as there were no longer any runners between them and us. And I had an entire backpack stuffed full of pick'n'mix and Vicky and I certainly couldn't eat it all on our own. 




If I couldn't give the sweeties to the runners, I was going to feed up the pacers!

There was a bit of an incident as we got to the Holyhead road junction. The marshals were letting the cars through when there were gaps in the runners, but it wasn't quickly enough for some people. Despite all the forward notice and signs warning of the half marathon, some people want to do ALL the things NOW. There was a but of horn honking and cars trying to get onto the course, but it looked like it was all in hand by the time we got there. 
 
We caught up with the 3 hour 30 pacers heading into the village of Allesley. It's such a pretty part of Coventry, with picturesque houses and villages. It's the epitome of a picture you'd find on a chocolate box. But with puddles today. Water features if you like. 



Our last runner now was a diminutive gentleman in his 50s with the name 'Mark' on his race number. We said hello and then stayed behind him so he could run his own race without feeling any pressure. I was impressed that he'd laminated his running number which was affixed to his jacket. No rain was going to melt this number!
 
Lisa and Laura had to keep to 3:30 pace so they gradually pulled away and we stayed behind Mark who was doing a walk-run strategy to complete his race. 

Mark was quite chatty and told us he’d trained for 2 weeks for this including a 2 hour run and a walk last week and he wasn’t going to drink anything as he had sipped water last night and had had some more water this morning. Everyone's training looks different and you have to do what fits into your own life. But I wasn't sure it was a strategy I'd personally follow.

I offered him some of the packs of sweeties I was carrying but he said he didn’t need them as he had a vitamin B12 spray that he was going to spray on. 

Alrighty then.

Mark was a few hours into his event now. We told him he was doing great. He was. It was a cold and wet day to be out completing your first half. And first half marathons are tough. Particularly if you're fuelling with water from yesterday and B12 spray.

There was a bit of coughing and a lot of spitting. So much spitting. And he wasn’t very diligent about direction. 

Vicky and I dodged the spit and kept cheering on our champion. “You're doing amazing, Mark!” Please stop spitting at us.



Vicky and I were snacking on the sweeties now. We had no-one else to give them to except the gentleman in front of us and he reckoned he was all set with his B12 spray. 

A woman with a dog wearing a coat came towards us. It lunged at Mark who said “Oh Jesus Christ” in shock. The woman  said ‘That’s a funny way to say hello’ as though it had been Mark who had lunged at the dog. 



Mark was in a funny mood now. It wasn't surprising. He had been doing 19 minute miles for about 3 hours and the weather was dreadful. He didn't seem to be sure whether he wanted to talk to us or not. We let him decide and walked behind. We were just back marking, he was the runner, the important one. This was his event.

Unfortunately due to timing, the roads were now open to traffic. We did however, have the support car and the motorcycle marshals which gave us some visibility but we moved to the pavements and cycle paths for safety. The marshals were packing down the mile markers in front of us which must have been tough for Mark.

Mark however was a character. With main character energy. He decided that nothing was going to stop him from finishing his half marathon, whether that was HGVs, cars or major roundabouts. And because of that he started running across junctions without looking. Vicky and I didn't know what to do. We weren't in a position to stop traffic. We offered to go on ahead to check if junctions were clear for him, but he told us he didn't care. And we were to leave him.

Eeek! Did we have a duty of care? We felt that we did but where does this end?

We came up to a major roundabout and the motorcycle marshals offered to block traffic for him so he could cross it towards the finish. But he refused to follow their directions  and ran off down a side road.

We all looked at each other. What to do?

Vicky and I followed on. We were backmarkers, so we would back mark. The side road led over a footbridge, so obviously the support car and the motorcycles couldn't follow. We followed up the bridge at a distance and watched as he spat at a family and their dog. Deliberately? Who knows. Mark was going through things.

Vicky and I were going through spit. Everywhere. Even if we lost sight of him, we could follow the trail of spit.


A passerby spotted us and said “Ooh you’re behind the backmarkers!” Vicky replied “We ARE the backmarkers.” We were wet and cold. And I was very much looking forward to a hot cup of coffee. It had been a long 4 hours and it would have been a tough morning, if not for the lovely company of Vicky whose chat and good temper kept me going. 

As we meandered behind Mark who was now making weird noises and calling himself a totally different name, I realised things were starting to look familiar.  

This is it. We're nearly at the finish. Thank GOD.



Up a small incline and I could see the blue finish arch. Hallelujah. 




We gave Mark more distance so he'd have some good finish photos and could get the deserved applause from the volunteers. As he crossed the finish line and got a medal, he was interviewed by BBC Coventry as the last finisher.

He was smiley, happy and didn't spit at her ONCE.

Vicky and I looked at each other. Our job was done. Tea and medals.

Except the medals packed been packed away. Bother. But the kind volunteers gave us theirs. We found a warm coffee shop and I put a call into work to explain that the half marathon had taken 4 and a half hours so I might need to extend my time off.

I decided to check the result to see if Vicky or I was the official last finisher or whether Mark had the position of honour. And discovered that our intrepid Mark was not Mark at all.

He had been running under a photocopied number from another runner who had cracked their half marathon in at a nice solid 1 hour 50.

So Mark … or Dave … or Gary ... or whoever you are. I hope you enjoyed your free event, the guided tour and the company of Vicky and I. Hope you got some good B12 spray on afterwards and rehydrated well after all that spitting. 

Vicky and I had a grand day out and will see you next year!



2 comments:

  1. Brilliant! Loved reading this.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for commenting :) I’m glad you enjoyed itv had hoped to pace this years again but it’s the same date as London Marathon :(

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