Race Report: Mallory Park Half Marathon 2026

Thanks to Chair Ryan for this report from Mallory Park:

I can't imagine the cashier at Morrisons had the first customer through the door at 8am on a Sunday morning buying only 'bananas and Vaseline' on her bingo card yet there I was, awkwardly buying them together. For clarity the bananas were for eating and the Vaseline to ward off chafing. Take your minds out of the gutter. 

The drive down was wet and foggy and I was regretting my decision to enter this event. Thankfully I managed to avoid the crash that held up the Myers clan and I was there in good time, unlike them. We did manage a quick pre-race brief when they eventually arrived just before the start. 

Two things I've never been very good at in my running life, lapped events and pacing myself. Those that know me know I go out too fast and tend to capitulate on lapped events, succumbing to giving up. So today I had to contend with pacing myself at marathon pace (6:57-7:05) and doing 8 laps of the same course (approx 1.6 miles). The plan was to run at least 10 miles at marathon pace and pick up for the final 3. 

How did it go? Surprisingly ok. The stats will say barring mile 1 I was slightly quicker than marathon pace (I imagine a lot of people had money on that). But I felt comfortable, never really feeling like I was working too hard and mostly switched off. I made a mental decision to reset every mile. Being part of the 'competitive d**kheads union' it was a real battle to not go after people. Rich was pepper potting past me now and again doing his own plan and I really appreciated his encouragement at the switch back point. Super Kev Roughton was also on course and gave us a lot of encouragement. Being a lapped event the leaders (including former KAD Bruce) came past us around lap 6/7. Around that time the 5/10k had started and it was a bit of carnage maneuvering through the start/finish point which did result in a few disagreements between people. The organisers really didn't make the turn wide enough to be honest. 

The last 3 miles I was supposed to kick. In the confusion of laps I kicked at mile 9. But it felt great actually having energy at the end of a race instead of feeling sluggish. The plan worked quite well, negative splits over the last few miles was such a good feeling and I finished strong. 

For 8 laps it wasn't too bad mentally, the weather held out, the wind died down and it was good conditions. Plenty of work still to do, we are only early in the plan and sustaining this pace between 6:50-7:00 will feel difficult but it's a target. 

On a side note, it was great and such a lift to see other KADS at an event. Whenever I go to a race nowadays and don't see any KADS, it feels like your first day at big school, all alone with no one to talk too! Thanks to Sarah Neilson for the photos/video, Mrs Myers for the support and Rich and Chris for the encouragement.