Grantham Running Club’s Andrew Pask travelled to Hampshire for the Fleet Half Marathon. This event also doubles up as the Armed Forces Inter-Services Half Marathon Championships where Andrew was representing the Royal Air Force.
Organised by Fleet & Crookham AC, this event is arguably the largest club organised half marathon in the country with nearly 2,000 finishers in a super competitive field. Before the race, runners were forced to prepare in some miserable rainy conditions but once the race got underway conditions improved and were perfect for fast times.
Andrew with modest expectations positioned himself in front of the ‘sub 1hr 30min’ pacer from the start, hoping to never have to see him come past. After a pacey start, Andrew spotted the dreaded pacer at the 8-mile point but thankfully he was at least 1 min behind. Feeling confident, Andrew pushed on knowing he would not be caught. Taking his first glance at his watch at 12 miles, Andrew was pleased with his 6:40/mile average pace.
After a sprint finish, Andrew crossed the line with 1:27:51 on the clock, his fastest over the distance for 18 months and even more pleasing given his recent run of bad form which thankfully looks to be behind him now.