Mammoth Half Marathon – 15/05/2022

The Day started overcast and it was cold as we arrived at Mundesley for the half marathon start. Jaguar’s past and present (and perhaps future) met, chatted, and caught up many not having seen each other since the start of the pandemic. The race director and team were present and obviously enthusiastic about the race to come. Runners from across Norfolk and further afield were marshalled into the start area on a closed road in the heart of the village.

Staring up the hill from Mundesley toward Trimmingham already looked like hard work and so it proved. I’ve no doubt that many runners were thinking about the full Marathon participants who would only get here at the half-way point. It was indeed a taxing course with a lot of ‘elevation’ and many fast starters fell back as we ‘ground’ on toward Sheringham. Cromer was full of crowds cheering us on and for me the sight of Jaguars cheering support on the road as we left the town gave me a specific boost which was sorely needed.

As we piled on toward the finish we were treated to Common Lane, initially an innocent road taking us around the back of the tourist route. It turned into an unforgiving double kink, uphill all the way. This amounted to a brutal last mile or so culminating in a long finish across the full length of the high school playing field.

All in an excellent event coupling a challenging course with good organisation and excellent marshalling. Roads were calm and drivers though obviously inconvenienced behaved themselves. The finish area was well appointed with good coffee and plenty of space. Our Jags all came home in good spirits having put up some excellent times – despite the hills!

Steve Neal

NameTimePBStandard
Julian Smith1:41:22YesSilver
Stephen Neal1:44:20Gold
Vicky Tovell1:45:52
David Buck1:52:21Gold
Clare Hicks2:10:51
Dee Neal2:11:51Gold
Laura Johnson2:16:16First Timer
Emma Penfold2:16:52YesBronze
Kelly Piesse2:19:02First Timer