Strider Carlie Watts shares her experience of the 2017 Brighton Half Marathon
9am on a cold and drizzling day and I’m waiting to get over that start line and run my 6th Brighton half marathon.
In all honesty, I have never enjoyed this race, but today was so different. From mile to mile I felt strong and in control. The wind hit me at mile 5/6, but I continued to work hard and get through it, hiding behind groups and taller people!
I am now trying to remember how I felt but I was so focused I couldn’t tell you! I just remember checking my watch and thinking to myself ‘I could do this, I could break the two hours’.
At mile 10, I looked in front of me and focused on the i360, picking up the pace and ploughing through the last 3 miles… the crowds got bigger and louder as I ran to the finishing line, checking my watch again for the last time and smiling from the inside out. I crossed the line in 1:56:07.
Huge congratulations to Carlie and all the other Brighton Half finishers! Official Striders times are below:
Josh Rudd 1:17:33 PB 41st overall
Simon Fletcher 1:18:19 53rd and 1st in age group
Scott Hitchcock 1:23:32 PB
Luke Borland 1:26:31 PB
Ed Tuckley 1:27:44
Josh Nisbett 1:39:03 PB
Anneka Redley 1:48:30 PB
Karen Clinton 1:52:10
Carlie Watts 1:56:07 PB
Emma Goodwin 2:13:35 PB
Tom Roper 2:22:01