Gargrave Half Marathon
Report by Helen Cox
On Sunday 19th January, Anita Oldham and Helen Cox took part in the Gargrave half marathon. Organised by Its Grim Up North, the race is run on the quiet roads of Gargrave and has an added appeal of offering finishers a bespoke medal, chocolate and cakes.
The original advert for this run stated “flat”. We looked again this week and noticed that flat had changed to “undulating” so we were expecting a few ups and downs. However, these were bigger than that and we experienced hills that seemed to go on forever! Also, due to the freezing cold weather conditions and feedback from the marshals that the second part of the one route course was sheet ice and not safe, the organisers at the very last minute( at the race brief 15 minutes before the start) made the sensible decision to change the route to an out and back. This meant that the course was slightly shorter than a half marathon but only by half a mile and ensured the safety of the runners.
We were both so pleased with our times, especially with the ground being so icy and the hills! So a further half a mile would have still being a PB for both of us – I was so glad it wasn’t any further as I was absolutely done by the end!
Results are:
Helen Cox 1.49.37
Anita Oldham 1.53.43