Spa-Francorchamps Half Marathon, 7th March
Report by Paul Ackerley
As the Spa-Francorchamps Belgian racing circuit is the most beautiful track, and the most challenging for drivers, on the F1 calendar, I couldn’t resist the call of running a half marathon there.
As the track is only slightly over 7km in length (a mere 4 metres over), it is relatively easy to put on distances with a multiple of 7… so it offered 7km, 14km, 21km and 42 km races.
And I loved it. I hadn’t realised just how hilly the track is (there are no flat parts, and there is 320 feet difference between the highest and lowest parts of a lap), and running it has given me so much more insight into what it must be like for racing drivers – and I have far more respect for how they drive it now. The races start from the pit straight, after picking up numbers from pit boxes. Having accelerated away from the start, and taken the sharp right turn at the end of the start / finish straight, sadly, I didn’t quite feel the G-Force as I raced down into Eau Rouge and up the other side, but I can live with that. After that the circuit goes into a forested area and across a river and then back to the grandstand.
It was well organised, in a calm and helpful manner (Belgians appear not to panic – their shops are still full of toilet rolls and hand sanitiser) and it required no marshals other than at the start / finish line, and in an ambulance car that toured round and round the track (I want the job of driving that next year). The medal was nicely themed as a miniature F1 steering wheel.
Friends and family can either sit in the warm grandstand restaurant above the start / finish line, or wander the course, or set up and have a picnic somewhere on the course, which was really nice, giving encouragement to the runners.
The weather was lovely, although the track is in about the highest part of the low countries at around 1200 feet, so the weather is very changeable, and two of the last three years have been run with snow on the ground.
858 runners competed across the 4 distances, with a surprisingly low (to me) 5 runners being from the UK. Three of these runners ran in the half marathon. And whilst I could not compete with Barry Sheene’s 1977 135mph motor cycle lap record (slower than the F1 record), my computerised chip time read out did tell me that I was both 1st for all UK entrants and 1st for all the entrants from Harrogate (I had registered as a Ripon Runner, but it didn’t give my ranking within any clubs, only on my postal address!). It sounds less impressive once I introduce my finish time of 2.04.03.
Overall, one of the most interesting runs I have done – I really enjoyed it – and I would highly recommend it, particularly if you are an F1 fan.