JSAC members take on the Hospice 2 Hospice Half Marathon 2024
What do runners love more than (just) running?
CLUE: it’s not talking about running or browsing for a new pair of trainers in the sales
Running a scenic route, for a great cause with the knowledge that there is delicious cake at the finish. The H2H half on Sunday certainly ticked all of those boxes (and more), a sentiment that was evidently widely shared with over 750 runners toeing the start line, raising £60k for Jersey Hospice Care.
This race has quickly become one of the most popular events in the Jersey running calendar and it’s not so hard to see why. A picturesque course, populated by friendly marshals and encouraging spectators, with the final two and a half miles sloping gently downhill does sound like a recipe for success. Four of our members, Carolyn, Geoff, Kimberley and George, confirm this and describe their experiences below.
Carolyn O’Boyle – 1.50.15
In the spirit of challenging myself and contributing to a worthy cause, I signed up for the Jersey Hospice 2 Hospice Half Marathon. It was my first time running the Hospice Half but I was excited as the event had come highly recommended by fellow runners.
From interval training with the Spartans Tuesday group to longer weekend runs, I found this mix hugely helpful in preparing for the distance.
Of course, start line nerves were with me on the day but I felt a profound sense of community and purpose as we all gathered together at the start.
The beautiful scenery of the course came as a welcome distraction, especially in the more challenging sections! The support from the crowd, volunteers and fellow runners was fantastic throughout and definitely helped to get me to the finish line with a PB!
I would wholeheartedly recommend the Hospice2Hospice half marathon to anyone of any ability looking for a meaningful and challenging race.
As for my next goal, I wouldn’t rule out another marathon in the future but, for now, I’m going to attempt to put my feet up when I’m not chasing after my six year old!
Geoff Nott – 2.42.57
On the one hand Sunday’s Hospice 2 Hospice Half Marathon was a bad race for me as I went into it carrying a foot injury, which meant I could only run at a slower than usual pace, but on the plus side it meant I got to enjoy the beautiful scenery on this route. Having run many half and full marathons both here, in Wales & in England, this route has got to be one of the most scenic anywhere.
The well organised race starts with a bus laid on from Town to the start in St Ouen’s and a prompt start at 8am.
It’s a race of 2 halves, a 6 mile flat loop around St Ouen taking in a lot of the parish and then the rest of the route undulates through St Mary, St John and St Lawrence before heading down Mont Cochon to Jersey Hospice. Then when you’re really tired the last 50 meters is up what feels like Mount Everest to the finish in the Car Park, followed by coffee & cake!!! (The reason I run).
Congratulations to Josh Brien on his win, & a whole host of Spartan runners who got PBs.
Kimberley Lloyd-Jones – 1.57.28
Well, I have to say that the Hospice 2 Hospice Half Marathon 2024 was a fantastic race that myself and my husband, Justin Lloyd-Jones, thoroughly enjoyed.
It began with the free coach that took us from town to the start line. We then gathered in the Hospice car park where we caught up with our running friends including many of the ‘Tuesday Runners’ from Jersey Spartans Athletic Club. It’s always great to see so many familiar faces who share our love of running. The running community in Jersey consists of a very inclusive and supportive bunch of people. It’s great to compete with each other at races and chat about our strategies, race plans and goals.
My husband and I enter as many races as we possibly can including JSAC, Parkrun, Trail Monkey, Durrell, The Island Walk and various other charity races.
We participate in interval training every Tuesday evening which is run by our Coach, Dave Woodsford. We love our weekly meet-up with all of the Tuesday Runners. We also love running Jersey Parkrun, which is our Saturday morning ritual. Both Tuesday evening running with Dave Woodsford and gang and our Saturday morning Parkrun contribute significantly to our fitness which allows us to be fit enough to enter races such as the Hospice 2 Hospice Half Marathon.
The Hospice Half Marathon was fantastically organised and is a race that we like to enter each year unless we are injured or on holiday. We would like to thank everyone that made the event run so smoothly. I managed to beat my all-time half marathon PB by 1 minute and 11 seconds and my husband managed to achieve a course PB by 1 minute and 12 seconds! We were both over the moon with these achievements and wore our medals proudly.
We look forward to entering again in 2025!
George Lumley – 1.28.58
The Hospice Half has become a staple in the Jersey race calendar, as well as my own. It is not only a great event, but raises an incredible amount of money for the Hospice too.
Training over the last 3 months had gone well on the whole, but I approached Sunday unsure of how the race would go. I decided to try my best to stick with James Oliver, the 1:30 pacer, for the first 10km and then make a call from there. Seeing James dressed as if it was still winter, clinging onto a helium balloon, looking like he had taken a wrong turn after a heavy night out, gave me hope that I had a chance at my goal. After all if he could “jog” along at my pace after a challenging 22mile training run the day before then surely I could just about manage to hold on too?
There was a good group of us clinging on to Jersey’s second fastest postman (after Mr Jon Coote) from the off and we kept a really consistent pace throughout – banking some quicker miles to allow for sections of headwind and hills.
After managing to pick up the pace from the top of Mont Cochon with the assistance of the downhill and a tailwind, I was delighted to cross the line in 1hr28 and PB by 5 minutes! A big thank you to James for delivering a number of us to the finish line on time – first class pacing.
The next few months for me is focused on improving my 5km and 10km times further – I’ll be back next year though for the Hospice Half, eager to break a PB but most importantly to support the exceptional work of the Hospice.
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Well done to all our members, and congratulations to those that got shiny new PBs and/or trophies!
A special shout out to Jess Troy and Josh Brien for their first place finishes and also to Helen Day, Phil Ahier, Paul Bish and Roy McCarthy for their age group wins.
If you’re feeling inspired, or fancy seeing if you can improve on your PB, why not sign up for our Jersey Cancer Relief Half Marathon on 8th September 2024?
Photo Credit for featured image: JEP
