Pacing the Southampton Half Marathon

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24 April 2016

The day of the Southampton Half Marathon started off chillier than I’d expected. Standing just off the Avenue, opposite the bottom end of the Common, waiting around for the rest of our group I shivered and wished I’d brought a hat. It was just after eight and we were early but, thankfully, it wasn’t long before the others started to arrive and we set off towards the City Centre. By the time the start finish arch came into view it had begun to rain. Now I really wished I’d brought a hat but at least I didn’t have to strip down to t-shirt and shorts and run so I could hardly complain.

The pacers had a VIP dressing room in the Sir James Matthews building so I put my head down and followed, hoping no one would work out I was just a hanger on and stop me going in. Luckily no one seemed to be paying us the slightest attention and I got away with it. The room was a lecture or conference hall filled with red, cinema style chairs, certainly a step up from the office the pacers had to change in before the Eastleigh 10K.

More pacers and their entourages arrived and soon the seats were littered with discarded clothing and bags. A Bundle of large pacers flags were laid out on the floor in front of the white board and the pacers eyed them nervously.
“We don’t have to run with those do we?” someone said.
“I think we just have to carry them to the start so people can see us,” someone else answered.
They looked pretty unwieldy from where I was standing so I was glad I didn’t have to do anything with them.

After a briefing, mostly about the flags and where to stand, runners began to prepare. Warm sweatshirts came off, revealing snazzy pacers t-shirts with times on them. Then Francis Benali wandered in, thanked everyone for volunteering and wished them all a good race. He’d be running himself, along with his ex teammate Matt LeTissier and both had their own VIP changing room next door. A little while later LeTiss paid his own visit.

Finally the time came to hand out the flags and go off to the Guildhall where the brave pacers would be introduced to the waiting crowds. This was when it became clear the blasted things were more unwieldy than they looked, especially in a confined space. More by luck than judgement no one was impaled, although it was touch and go. Somehow the pacers and flags made it outside without incident. I was pleased to see it had stopped raining.

The empty streets had now filled with runners and spectators. After a little pep talk the flag weilding group made their way through them to Guildhall Square with me tagging on behind the Get Me Round Runner. The pacers lined up in front of the Guildhall where they were introduced to the crowd.

Introductions completed it was time for them to take their places in the start pens. The faster pacers, near the front had handy railings to tie their flags to but, after a bit of shuffling about, Commando and his two hour ten companions were stationed in East Park. By this time the cumbersome flags were beginning to seem like a bit of a liability, blowing about in the breeze and generally getting in the way. Eventually Commando managed to poke the pole in the grass and be rid of the thing.

After the cold start and the early morning drizzle the clouds had slowly burned off and now the sky was blue. In fact it was beginning to get quite warm. It was almost time for the race to start so, with a kiss for luck, I left Commando and headed off. Experience has taught me it’s a waste of time to try to get a photo of him crossing the start line at a big event but I had a plan. If I could get to the Bargate and it wasn’t too crowded I thought I might find a good vantage point. It was a struggle to get through the crowds at first but once I’d passed the start they thinned out and I even had time to stop for a quick snap of the now empty Guildhall Square piled up with bottled water and race packs waiting for the finish.

In fact I even had time to pop into Costa and grab a take away coffee. The tables outside looked inviting but, in the end, I decided the best view was across the street looking up towards the Bargate. If the front hadn’t been clothed in scaffolding and the arch blocked off the runners would have soon be streaming through. As it was they were diverted around the outside. I didn’t have long to wait before the pace car and the front runner appeared.

Now it was all about trying to spot spitfires and waiting for Commando to come past. Two minutes later I spotted Francis Benali and his son amongst the runners. He hasn’t lost much of his match pace and seemed set for a good finish time.

Runners were speeding by like lightning and the course was beginning to get crowded. Looking for Pacer t-shirts and any other faces I might recognise was getting harder and harder. When I did spot blue and white pacer shirts they’d whizzed past so fast I didn’t have time to read the time on them. Luckily, on pure reflex, I’d snapped a photo but when I looked at it I realised they were the 1.45 group so I must have missed the first three groups already.

Trying not to take my eyes off the runners I redoubled my efforts. If I could have stopped blinking I would have but it was all to no avail. There were just too many runners too close together. Despite capturing a pacer or two I knew I was missing more than I saw.

Some runners were easier to spot than others. The two dressed in fluorescent green and orange fully body suits with curly wigs certainly stood out. Blue and white pacer shirts were harder to spot.  When I saw the 2.20 pacers run by l knew I’d somehow missed Commando. It was disappointing but there wasn’t much I could do about it so I hung around until the last runner passed and thought about plan B.

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