Andrew Pask and Sam Jepson were the only GRC members to join 27,500 on the streets of Cardiff for the biggest ever Cardiff Half Marathon. Lining up in front of the iconic Cardiff Castle, just behind the elite Kenyans the GRC duo were dreaming of big things.
Setting off sharply, Sam pulled away at a solid 6:20/mi pace. Hitting the welcome first water station at 5km, Sam was more interested in controlling his body temperature in the warm, muggy conditions than he was hydration. Finding the pace hard to hold past halfway, Sam clung on well to clock a massive near 4min PB with a time of 85:08. Sam now joins his running idol Andrew in the semi-illustrious 85min ‘club’ after Andrew ran a similar time on this course in 2018.
Aging runner Andrew also had his struggles from halfway. With bigger things in life to worry about, Andrew was more interested in enjoying the race than his finish time. That he did; running the last 4 miles or so with a smile on his face and coming in with a not disastrous 1:31:03.
Next up for Sam is the prestigious Valencia Marathon and for Andrew the not so prestigious Keyworth Turkey Trott.