Is there such thing as a lucky race? Well if you refer to the famous quote from South African Golfer Gary Player, then yes. He said, “The harder I practice, the luckier I get”.

Sunday was the 6th time I’ve made the start line at Paddock Wood Half Marathon. Making it one of my most frequented races on the calendar, since I took up this hobby in 2016.

When people ask me what the race is like, my reply is honest, “the route is a bit boring in truth”. Starting in a rather non descript industrial estate you head out of Paddock Wood, along the main road where a decent crowd gather, considerably larger this year, with the sun finally showing it’s face, more on that later.

You then head out into local country lanes, with just a couple of pockets of support, but eerily quiet in comparison to our very own Hastings Half Marathon.

Despite the lack of noticeable features en route I’ve always run well here. With just 70 metres of elevation it can be described as a flat and fast half marathon. Even if the railway bridges in the 2nd half of the race feel pretty steep.

It’s a strong field too. Paul Lambert who smashed his own personal best by some 3 minutes, clocking a hugely impressive 1:21:25, finished in 217th place! Wow! In some of the smaller local races I’ll often find myself running solo, but so stacked is the field in this Kent Grand Prix race, I always had runners around me and that helps massively lowering perceived effort.

Apart from feeling a little under the weather (maranoia no doubt), and only managing 5 hours sleep, the whole event went perfectly for me. We arrived in plenty of time, I managed a good warm up, looping around the far side of the industrial estate with hundreds of other eager participants.

The start line felt a little crammed and getting through the first 500 metres was challenging. My target pace for the day was 4:25 per km. So when I first glanced at my watch a few hundred metres in and saw 4:55, I panicked a little.

The field soon spread out though and it was only as we turned left off the main road that I was now going too quickly. Even the kilometre with the only real hill on the course I clocked 4:20 so I told myself to chill out a bit.

With the temperature rising the water stations were a tad chaotic, with runners piling in to quench their thirst. Having lost a few seconds there I quickly got back into my rhythm, taking my own advice of running the 9 mile loop on the left hand side, to shorten the course, while the majority of the field, ignorantly hugged the opposite side of the lane.

Once I’d settled down and got through 3km my splits where a thing of beauty. 4:24 – 4:25 – 4:27 – 4:25 – 4:24 – 4:25 – 4:25 – 4:25. With 10k to go I was feeling strong and almost waiting for something to go wrong. What if I get a stitch? What it my shoe lace comes undone?

But the kms continued to tick by with no such problem, 4:23 – 4:25 – 4:27 – 4:27, it was only as we tackled the railway bridges I lost a bit of pace, my watched displayed 4:39 at point and knowing I was only 20 seconds ahead of schedule, there was a moment of doubt. Only a month earlier I had been sailing to a 10k PB at Chichester, feeling brilliant, only to miss out with a disappointing finish. Was the same about to happen here?

The key thought throughout my race was my running form. I tend to focus on my arms, knowing that if these are close to my side and moving efficiently, my cadence will be high and I can maintain my pace. Whenever I felt myself slowing a little, that was where my attention turned.

I lost a total of 13 seconds in kms 17 and 18, but was soon back on track, working hard now, Damo Mills style. My last 3 kms read 4:23, 4:21 and it was only when my brand new Coros Pace Pro crashed for the 2nd time, I produced my strongest km of the race, 4:09 to finish, knocking nearly a minute off my previous best.

My Paddock Wood Results
2016 – 2:05:37
2019 – 1:59:38
2021 – 1:37:49
2023 – 1:36:30
2024 – 1:33:58
2025 – 1:33:03

I put this continued improvement down to being more knowledgeable and putting that to good use. For me, in terms of execution, this was the best race I’ve ever ran. It marked the conclusion of my 17th training plan and my first PB in 9 months.

I’m excited to continue to improve with sub 90 minutes my ultimate goal for a half marathon and I have plenty of ideas in terms of training for how I can achieve that. Ideas which I hope to implement for the team as well.

I realise this post has been pretty much exclusively about myself so far, apart from a small mention for Paul. He smashed his goal at the conclusion of his 5th plan working alongside me.

Sam Evans continued his progress with a PB of 1:22:58, his target time set for the race was 1:23. Not a bad shout on my part (there I go taking the credit again).

As a coach, on race day, with so many other members of the team in action, the joy of my own own success was short lived as I quickly made my way back up the road to cheer on the rest of Team Orange.

It’s tough when your runners don’t quite hit their goals and the natural response is to question the training plans and what as a coach you could do better. I think with the temperatures in excess of 15 degrees and the sun glaring down, it definitely took it’s toll, and the longer runners were out there, obviously the harder that became. So I do believe that explains why all the PBs came from those of us crossing the line first.

Conal ran a great race too, sticking close by the 1:40 pacers and crossing the line just ahead. Lindsey who rarely runs a race without clocking a PB was just 1 second slower than Eastbourne a fortnight ago.

Alice who has bravely been battling a glute injury would have managed sub 2 but for the chaos at the water stations. And despite not hitting their goals on the day, Matt, Andy, Jess, Klare, Sue A, Sue W, Alison and Mark can all be proud of their efforts.

So what did I learn from my 5th PB at Paddock Wood? Pacing is everything in races of this distance, especially early on. Check the forecast and wear a hat if the sun is shining. Also don’t purchase a Coros Pace Pro, that will be on it’s way back once they reply to my refund request.

What next for me? Well I’ve entered a marathon in the Autumn as I seek to break the elusive 3:30 mark which as teased me for so long. But my main focus is on my coaching. To keep improving my training plans and the way I engage with the team. That’s where I see my future and that’s where I see my biggest potential to improve.

I should also give a shout out to those that battled the sunshine for 20 miles at Lydd. Sarah and Kayla are both training for London next month and this was a big race for both.

They both ran excellent races, Sarah finishing in 3:40:49 and Kayla in 4:12:02!!

Thank for you reading and to the Team for your continued support in my coaching journey.