“Having had to pull out of the Great North Run half marathon in Newcastle a month ago after 12km because of breathlessness and concerns about a TIA 3 months prior, I viewed London Roy al Parks Half with some trepidation the night before.
I needn’t have worried: having decided not to try to break my PB of 1h 53m 11s but go for sub 2hrs instead, I took it easy for the first few kilometre’s. The new route starting in the Mall promised to be the most beautiful in the world, and for once I was able to appreciate it at a pace which didn’t seem too onerous.
I always believe that you don’t really know how you are going to feel on a 21km run until after the 10-12km mark; at this stage I felt good and noticed that I was doing a reasonably face pace of 5’05” to 5’12’ without too much pressure on my heart rate, legs or lungs. That said I was conscious that at 15-17km I did suddenly feel tired in the same race in 2019 so I held back a bit on any slight uphill gradients.
I timed my gel for mile 10-11 and thought that worked well because with only 2km to go I did have a slight burst of energy. I found it useful to know Hyde Park quite well so no surprises. I even managed a small sprint for the last 200m which was a very pleasant surprise.
The best surprise of all was to have my PB time confirmed at 1h 49 06 which is a full 4 minutes off my time in 2011 GNR (admittedly GNR has more hills).
Thank you to all my sponsors, Save The Children, family and friends for ongoing support. Particular thanks go to David & Clare Nicholson for always getting me out to train. Also to Charlotte Jones pushing me to run more across some beautiful and hilly Greek Islands that I have ever run on a vacation.
Now for a triathlon 🏃🏽♂️😎” ~ Anthony Goodwin
On Sunday 10th October 2021 Anthony completed the Royal Parks Half Marathon in an impressive 1 hour, 49 minutes and 6 seconds. A new personal best, finishing a full 4 minutes faster than his previous PB set 10 years ago.
A great achievement, all in aid of Save the Children – raising money to help children all around the world stay safe, healthy and keep learning, so that they can become who they want to be.
100% of the donations made through ACF will be passed on to Save the Children, whereas other fundraising platforms tend to keep a small percentage of the donation as a platform cost.
To donate and support Anthony, please visit our Donate page where you can make donations via PayPal.
He is targeted to raise a minimum of £275 for Save the Children, and hopes to exceed this target with your help!
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