Roman Ruin

Part of the original wall surrounding the Roman City of Verulamium

Verulamium Park is a fantastic open space in St Albans, over 100 acres of glorious parkland named after the Roman City of Verulamium on which it stands. Its ornamental lake, meadows and trees are home to a wide variety of waterbirds and countless other wildlife. Across the lake and above the trees visitors can catch a tantalising glimpse of the magnificent St Albans Cathedral and Abbey Church at the top of Holywell Hill.

St Albans Cathedral and Abbey Church from Verulamium Park

The park is popular with visitors throughout the year and hosts many set-piece events including a spectacular firework display in November and various concerts, plays and festival events during the summer. Every June for the past 30 years the park has been home to the start and finish of the St Albans Half Marathon, an event which yesterday became the fifth staging post along my Project Five O journey. It's a event with tremendous local participation, and much more than just the 13.1 mile race. As well as the running half marathon there's a walking version starting two hours earlier, a 5k race and a 1.5 mile children's fun run, and in addition to the traditional medal and t-shirt, ever since the first event all participants have been rewarded at the finish with an ice lolly donated by local ice cream company proprietor Bernard Tominey.

After discovering last year just how difficult the hilly course is, I wouldn't have signed up again this year were it not for the affinity that I already feel for my local event. And when I say difficult, I mean fiendishly so. Whilst the hills are a mixture of long, energy sapping inclines and shorter, steeper gradients, they come incessantly with the descents somehow seeming only to partially compensate for the climbs. Going up is tough on muscles and knees, but coming down can be even more so if you overdo things. As soon as the course exits the park past the Roman Museum, after about half a mile, the first hill begins, with the longest, most energy-sapping climb stretching along most of the third mile.

The self-styled 'Museum of everyday life in Roman Britain'

From the outset of Project Five O I realised that this race wouldn't provide a realistic PB opportunity, and so my plan on the day was quite simple: treat it as a long training run, start slowly and just try to keep going. And that's pretty much how it turned out, although the final couple of hills did finally force me to admit defeat and walk to the summit. I was really hurting by the end and perhaps foolishly attempted to speed up considerably on the long downhill section that precedes re-entry to the park. This caused my calf muscles to stiffen up completely and with the fierce headwind that greeted me as I entered the long finishing straight, I seemed to be going going backwards for the final half mile.

Approaching the finishing line

Nevertheless I was pleased with my time, a modest 2:32:21, which was a whopping 12 minutes faster than last year, reflecting my improved fitness levels as well as a more pragmatic race strategy. Further progress in the right direction.

Another medal for my collection.

Despite being so taxing, I really enjoyed the race. Comprising predominantly of country lanes, the course is pretty (possibly excepting when it passes under and over the M1) and the very heavy drizzle that fell throughout was as welcome to the runners as I'm sure it was to the ducks swimming in the ornamental lake. Unless it's torrential, rain is barely noticeable once you start running and is very helpful in preventing overheating. A large team of enthusiastic marshalls provided welcome vocal encouragement all along the route, and chatting to a number of friendly fellow sufferers along the way helped some of the miles pass a little more quickly. Unbeknown to me beforehand, one of the marshalls was a colleague from the Open University, which resulted in a high five and provided an added boost as I approached the halfway mark.

Lovely weather for ducks in the Verulamium Park lake

Steady precipitation might be the runner's friend, but believe me it rapidly loses its attraction once you're standing still. Having passed the finishing line and enjoyed Mr Tominey's refreshing ice lolly, I had to queue up for fifteen minutes in the open waiting to collect my bag from the baggage tent and the chance to change into something warm and dry. In doing so I became increasingly cold causing every inch of both legs to seize up completely. Making my way back to the car was painstaking and seemed to take for ever. It certainly felt as if the Roman Wall wasn't the only ancient ruin in the park at that moment. When I finally got home, I had something to eat, thawed out in a lovely warm bath before completely flaking out.

However, after a couple of hours sleep I was much recovered and moving well, which is encouraging. Surviving the St Albans Half should stand me in good stead as I step up my training over the summer and start to build for my autumn events.

Veni, vidi, vici!