I had a great time at the Pegasus half-marathon, except for the freezing hundred minutes stuck at the starting point on one side of the bridge before the race started, when I had to escape the cold and the wind by staying between two edges! Great start over this historical (if since rebuilt) bridge (much shorter than the Golden Gate bridge!) accompanied by bagpipes, if not from a large band!, not too many runners to pass over the first kilometre thanks to the division into several waves, even though I was not strategically located close enough to the starting line, and quickly falling into a sub-4 pace that I kept for most of the race. Great that my family was there at the arrival line. Despite the proximity to the Channel and the lack of protection through the half-grown wheat fields, the wind was not too much of an hindrance and the 110m overall climb was dispersed enough over most of the race hence never impacting my pace for long. A major plus, the final 5k’s were mostly downhill which helped a lot with this usually challenging part (even though I do not look particularly serene on the pics)! I essentially stayed with the same runners over the second half of the race, only for a few young ‘uns passing me in the last 300m within the stadium (which sits next to my high school, Lycée Malherbe). I was thus more than happy with my time (and with my higher volume training in the prior month, with a week at 100km), a minute faster than planned and two minutes earlier than in Boulogne, but did not expect any podium position in such a large and competitive race and only checked my ranking after getting home (my mother’s home) and showering, sort of “too late” for attending the award ceremony but I do not think I would have gone anyway. Next half planned in Argentan, end of September, where else?!
