2009 Cardiff Half Marathon

Signed up this evening for the 2009 Cardiff Half Marathon on October 18th. Lady Bulldog and I have been planning a trip to Wales later this year, so the timing of the race is absolutely perfect! The Cardiff Half was one of my first ever races back in the early 80’s so it will be great to race there again over a quarter of a century later. It will also be fantastic to have family around to watch us race – a rare treat and an extra incentive to run well!

The Cardiff Half Marathon web site is currently being revamped and they promise to have a new-improved site up soon. However, you can still register online or download an entry form, so no excuses for not signing up.

Naturally I’ll be wearing the Les Croupiers Running Club vest, and hope to place well against their top runners. Standards are a lot higher in the UK races though, so I’ll need to be at the top of my game come October. Speaking of Les Croupiers, I love the way they still post my race results even though I’m living in the USA. I send results to their web guy Dave Weeden every week and usually within hours he’s posted them to the club web site. More often than not there’s also a pertinent comment about my race. Here’s a couple of examples:

Tidewater Striders Distance Series 25K. Sunday, 25 January 2009. Virginia, USA. 1 Croups member ran. Steve Speirs 1:35:34 (3rd). “Another PB and a good indicator of progress towards Steve’s spring marathon.”

Virginia is for Lovers 14k. Saturday, 14 February 2009. Virginia, USA. 1308 people finished. 1 Croups member ran. Steve Speirs 49:52 (3rd). “Steve claims a new PB. He was only beaten by a 26 year old man and a 27 year old woman. Not bad for a vet!”

Tidewater Striders Distance Series 30k. Saturday, 21 February 2009. Virginia, USA. 1 Croups member ran. Steve Speirs 1:56:58 (2nd).
Colonial Half Marathon. Sunday, 22 February 2009. Virginia, USA. 1 Croups member ran. Steve Speirs 1:21:22 (21st). “A very consistent pair of races from Steve. A fast marathon looks likely. Sadly, he came down with food poisoning Sunday night, and has been recuperating since.”

Shamrock Marathon. Sunday, 22 March 2009. Virginia, USA. 1 Croups member ran. Steve Speirs 2:56:01 (25th). “Bit of a disappointment for Steve, but the best Croups marathon time of 2009 thus far.”

Thanks Dave for all the comments and the great work you do on the site. As a running club web site manager myself, I understand much of your work goes unnoticed.

Another deserved mention goes to Mick McGeoch. Mick has been described as “the rock the club is built on” and has achieved so much in the running world that I wouldn’t know where to begin writing about it. Mick and I occasionally trade emails and he’s always willing to pass on knowledge and advice from his years and years of experience. Mick reads out my race results on Thursday night club nights and apparently, many of the members think I’m a figment of his imagination or a made up character! It will be nice to finally show up at a local race and prove that I am in fact a real person.

So, good times and something else to look forward to later on in the year. The Cardiff Half will also be an ideal tune up race for the Richmond Marathon taking place in November. It’s great to have goals to work towards…