Eindhoven halve marathon

Today will go down as one of my all time favourite race experiences. It was my first time running in The Netherlands and I'm sure it won't be the last. Despite a crazy day yesterday I woke up feeling relaxed, we had no problems driving and finding somewhere to park, the expo was really well organised, the kids seemed to enjoy the buzz of the event (it is huge with a number of different races), the weather was perfect - cool but sunny. Therefore I just had to get on with the job. Although I haven't been training specifically for a half marathon I knew I was in good shape and knew that I was more than capable of going sub 1hr 30mins if I raced sensibly. I was itching for the race to start so I could just get on with it!
After a couple of miles I settled into a good pace and settled in at the back of a group of approx. 10 runners. There were two men who seemed to be pacing the group which contained two other females and they all knew each other as they were handing drinks back and forth. I really tried to focus on my form and pace and the miles ticked by incredibly consistently. Eventually I was the only female left in the group which had whittled down to five people. By mile 10 the pacer of the group saw the Union Jack on my race number and started talking to me and offering me drinks (he had previously tried to converse to me in Dutch!). Just after mile 11 the group really broke up and I was on my own desperately fighting to
maintain my pace and get to the end!
Before long I heard my little fan club cheering for me and I crossed the line with a great big smile on my face. I had done it!
Next up Neil raced in the 10km so we swapped kids and off he speaks. He had an incredible race and blew us all away with his fast time. I'd better watch out!