Reading half marathon

Husband was in two minds whether to run this year. He's had a lot of trouble with knees, hips, calves and motivation this year. This is our local half marathon and he enjoyed it so much last year, he did bit the bullet and take part again today.

We managed to get into a VIP lounge at the stadium before the race as he uses trainers made by the event sponsor, Mizuno. It was very nice with no queues for loos, snacks, drinks and magazines. We stayed there until about 40 minutes before the start. I headed off to try and find a spot on the route to watch. Several friends were running too.

I managed to spot husband at the 1 mile marker but nobody else I knew. Headed back to the VIP lounge and then sat in the stadium with a good view of the finish line in the bright sun. Husband made it over the line in just over 2 hours - longer than last year but he did get round intact.

As I was waiting for him at our meeting point, I realised that the paramedics were doing CPR on one of the runners who had just crossed the finish line. It was scary to see them doing chest compressions as they tried to get the runner on a trolley and out of the stadium. Later, we heard the very sad news that he had died. A very tragic end to the race.