Hannah nails a sub 1h30 half at Cardiff!

Hannah Bown was a woman on a mission this weekend and that mission saw her head to the Welsh capital to try and run under 1 hour 30 for the first time in a half marathon as this would not only bring her a new PB but also would give her the necessary time needed to be guaranteed a place in the championship start at the 2013 London Marathon.

Hannah has worked harder than most of us could imagine over the past few months to get her fitness back following the birth of her third (and she says final!) child at the start of the year. And not only has her hard work paid off and got her back to a good level of fitness, she appears to be fitter now than ever before if her recent performances are anything to go by. Juggling a hectic family schedule and a hectic training schedule is not easy, but via a few inventive methods and via the help of a rather large back garden (!), Hannah has managed to keep on top of both successfully and her multi-tasking efforts certainly paid off on Sunday 14th October in Cardiff where she had a storming run.

Billed as a fast, flat half, the course certainly suited Hannah as she set out hard from the gun chasing that sub 1h30 time. Although on paper her recent 10k performance at Woodbury suggested that she was more than capable of achieving her goal, the half marathon is a tricky distance and things can be going well at mile 9 and then you can find yourself struggling by mile 10. For Hannah though this did not happen and she stayed strong to the end, crossing the finish line in 87:51, giving her a highly respectable 40th place out of the female competitors in this quality race which attracts a high standard of athlete. She was an impressive 344th overall in a field of around 13'000 runners. Well done Hannah! This performance was timed to perfection since, as coincidence would have it, London Marathon Championship entries open today!!