Ross Davidson
Ross's Brighton Half Marathon 2015 page
Fundraising for Amaze
Story
I've done four half marathons so far and hadn't really planned on doing one this year, particularly as there were no spaces left! But I then saw that there were charity running spaces for Amaze; a local charity in Brighton that offers support to parents and carers of children with special needs. They've been a great source of information in helping us understand our son Freddy's autism and I thought it would be a great opportunity to raise some much needed funds for their efforts.
Now for the business side of things! My best time in the previous half marathons has been just under 1h45m so I'm training hard to try and squeeze under 1h40m. If you want to take that into consideration when sponsoring me that would be cool.
2nd Feb update:
Did my first long training run yesterday (19k) and it was tough. A straight out and back along the seafront which is pretty flat but running into a 31km/h headwind the first 9.5k really sapped my energy. Still managed to take almost 4 minutes off my previous best time for this route (back in Jan 2013) so it's good to see that the strong training base I've developed the last 6 months helped even though the conditions were less than ideal. This is roughly the same route as the HM itself so hopefully the conditions will be a bit calmer on the day. No chance of getting my target of sub 1h40m if they're like they were yesterday.
8th Feb update:
Well, what a difference a week makes. Same 19k run as last Sunday but much calmer conditions. I shaved just over 5 minutes off last week's effort and crucially managed to finish just inside my target time of 1h30. If I can maintain this pace on the 22nd and the weather behaves itself, that PB of sub 1h40 for the half marathon will be all mine. I know some of your donation top ups are tied to me finishing in that time so in the finest spirit I hope to separate you from those additional funds in two weeks time...
17th Feb update:
Final fast paced run ahead of the race on Sunday. Nipped out at lunchtime to do 10k along the seafront with a target pace of 4:30 per km. With great conditions and feeling unexpectedly strong I ran it in average pace of 4:19, finishing in 43:17. My fourth fastest 10k on record and the fastest ever for a training run; the three faster than this were all on race day. Feeling ready for Sunday...
23rd Feb update:
Well, it's all over now. Sitting here with very sore legs but very pleased with my finish time yesterday. Conditions were good (though not perfect) and I managed to shave over 9 minutes off my previous best time. The official time was 1h35m35s. Huge round of high-fives to everyone who sponsored me! I actually went in to the Amaze office at lunchtime to drop off the £25 additional cash sponsorship I got in the pub after the HM and it was great to see how pleased they were after a clearly successful day for them. A couple of my mates were compelled to tie in some extra donations if I beat my target time so cheers for that Mark and Fraser! Time to concentrate on doing some shorter distances for the next while. Although the possibility of one day doing the full marathon always looms in the background...
Now for the business side of things! My best time in the previous half marathons has been just under 1h45m so I'm training hard to try and squeeze under 1h40m. If you want to take that into consideration when sponsoring me that would be cool.
2nd Feb update:
Did my first long training run yesterday (19k) and it was tough. A straight out and back along the seafront which is pretty flat but running into a 31km/h headwind the first 9.5k really sapped my energy. Still managed to take almost 4 minutes off my previous best time for this route (back in Jan 2013) so it's good to see that the strong training base I've developed the last 6 months helped even though the conditions were less than ideal. This is roughly the same route as the HM itself so hopefully the conditions will be a bit calmer on the day. No chance of getting my target of sub 1h40m if they're like they were yesterday.
8th Feb update:
Well, what a difference a week makes. Same 19k run as last Sunday but much calmer conditions. I shaved just over 5 minutes off last week's effort and crucially managed to finish just inside my target time of 1h30. If I can maintain this pace on the 22nd and the weather behaves itself, that PB of sub 1h40 for the half marathon will be all mine. I know some of your donation top ups are tied to me finishing in that time so in the finest spirit I hope to separate you from those additional funds in two weeks time...
17th Feb update:
Final fast paced run ahead of the race on Sunday. Nipped out at lunchtime to do 10k along the seafront with a target pace of 4:30 per km. With great conditions and feeling unexpectedly strong I ran it in average pace of 4:19, finishing in 43:17. My fourth fastest 10k on record and the fastest ever for a training run; the three faster than this were all on race day. Feeling ready for Sunday...
23rd Feb update:
Well, it's all over now. Sitting here with very sore legs but very pleased with my finish time yesterday. Conditions were good (though not perfect) and I managed to shave over 9 minutes off my previous best time. The official time was 1h35m35s. Huge round of high-fives to everyone who sponsored me! I actually went in to the Amaze office at lunchtime to drop off the £25 additional cash sponsorship I got in the pub after the HM and it was great to see how pleased they were after a clearly successful day for them. A couple of my mates were compelled to tie in some extra donations if I beat my target time so cheers for that Mark and Fraser! Time to concentrate on doing some shorter distances for the next while. Although the possibility of one day doing the full marathon always looms in the background...