The morning of Sunday 2nd October was quite autumnal. October had arrived and twenty five Croft Ambrey Runners were preparing to descend on Cardiff for the 2022 Wizz Air Cardiff Half Marathon. Unlike previous races, we had planned to travel to the Welsh capital as a team and after a journey that had it’s resemblance to a “Carry On” film, we arrived in Cardiff raring to go. But, before heading off on the “short” walk to the start line we made sure our priorities were in order and got that team photo that isn’t always easy to get.
After the picture, which was taken in front of the football stadium, we made our way to the start line in the centre of the city, where at 10am over 12,000 people would begin their run of 13.1 miles around City of Cardiff and the surrounding areas.
The course started at Cardiff Castle and overall was relatively flat. Something that us CARC runners aren’t really used to. We ran out of the city centre, past the Principality and Cardiff City Stadiums before heading into Penarth. The views down at Penarth Marina and Cardiff Bay were stunning. The half marathon was worth it just for those. Unfortunately though there was very little time to admire our surroundings as we had to continue on our run which then lead us back into the city. Towards the end came a loop of the Roath Park Lake. I won’t lie, I don’t really remember seeing a lake but apparently there was. Regardless, it was then on to the finish but before that came a glorious sight. A hill. Or a slope, if you compare it to the hills around Croft and Herefordshire. However, after 13.1 miles, 25 worn out Crofties came over the finish line.
Sam Juson was first Croftie home with an incredible time of 1:29:08. This was also a half marathon personal best for Sam! Kelly Bowen was the club’s first female home with a time of 1:35:58. The CARC results below are the chip times taken from the official results from the event:
Sam Juson: 1:29:08
Kelly Bowen: 1:35:38
Greg Jones: 1:39:22
Steve Partridge: 1:38:21
Jo Marriott: 1:46:45
Mia Davies: 1:47:02
Jo Tilby: 1:47:52
Thea Preece: 1:51:46
David Millichap: 1:51:33
Bronwyn Preece: 1:56:05
Roland Preece: 1:57:51
Amy Purvin: 1:58:45
Liza Austin: 2:01:34
Howard Verran: 2:01:49
Sam Harper: 2:08:21
Suzanne Purvin: 2:14:17
Gemma Davies: 2:15:02
Oli Cameron-Swan: 2:08:04
Louise Reeves: 2:20:34
Helene Loh: 2:17:47
Clare Preece: 2:20:37
Nikki Ferguson: 2:24:25
Steph King: 2:21:34
Hayley Millichap: 2:32:19
Gary Gunner: 2:23:54
There were some excellent times being set over the course of this half marathon and I think all of CARC can be proud of how well they ran.
For me (Bronwyn), I unfortunately didn’t achieve a half marathon PB. In fact I was over five minutes off which surprised me as the course was flat and fast and my PB was set on a hilly, slow course. But that’s ok. I was dubious about even finishing the race due to low motivation as of late but I surprised myself. Thanks to the atmosphere and motivation of fellow runners, I enjoyed the run despite it being flat and managed to keep a steady, even pace throughout. I went home happy with how I did.
Overall it was a lovely club day out. Well done CARC. We did good.
