Pontefract Half Marathon

PB for Chris

Chris Toon was the sole Grantham Running Club representative at the second ever Pontefract Half Marathon on Sunday 30th September. The 2017 edition was Chris’ first ever half marathon as a novice runner having completed that year’s GRC 10 weeks to 10K course. Having loved the course, so much – the beautiful South Yorkshire countryside tempering the toughness of the very undulating terrain – Chris returned to see how much he could improve on the 2 hrs 11 minutes he clocked last year.

With an early 8:30am start and a fairly long journey from Grantham up the A1, there was no time for a warm up. With this in mind Chris took it easy for the first few miles, taking his time to reach his target race pace. Enjoying favourable conditions for racing – cool, cloudy, and with only a slight breeze, Chris picked up the pace through to ten miles and was running well.

Fearing he may have overcooked his effort having only recently returned from a calf injury and with the final three miles back to Pontefract all uphill, it was the lure of a good time and the fantastic encouragement of the spectators that spurred Chris on to the finish. He crossed the finish line in 1:46:54, bettering his previous best half marathon time by nearly two minutes. Chris hopes he can take this good form into his upcoming races at Kielder and Peterborough.