MACC’ HARRIERS
THE 2018 Macclesfield Half Marathon, 5K and Fun Run will take place on Sunday, September 23, and each year many runners take on the half marathon distance for the first time.
Dave Larkin from Macclesfield Harriers said: “It’s such a great achievement and we love to see the looks on people’s faces as they cross that finishing line.
“This year we want to offer some additional support to runners so we are organising a series of training runs in the build up to the race.
“We love to run and really want to share that with people for our community.
“We are really looking forward to helping runners through their training and then to see them achieve their goals on the day.”
The training runs will take place on the first Saturday of each month from June to September, meeting at 9am in the Leisure Centre Overflow Car Park.
They will be led by qualified leaders from Macclesfield Harriers and will help runners as they step up in distance, from about 8 miles for the first session.
The routes will be mainly quiet country lanes and will include parts of the race route (including what Dave calls the ‘undulations’).
This is a great time to start training for the Half Marathon. If you have run 5Ks or 10Ks before then there is lots of time to gradually increase the distance so that you will be really well prepared by September 23.
If you are interested in coming along to train or have any questions then email macchalf.ctc@gmail. com. Everyone is welcome.
For many first timers in the Macc Half their goal will be to finish the race – never mind finishing within a certain time.
But if runners aim to achieve a particular time, there will be pacers on race day to encourage runners and help them reach their time goals.
Vanessa Stokoe paced the Macc Half last year at two hours 20 mins: “I really enjoyed the pacing, it was good to chat to the runners. Although chatting while running uphill can be a challenge.”
Keith Mulholland adds: “It’s been really rewarding helping runners to reach their time goals.”
See www.macc-half.co. uk for full details of the Macclesfield Half Marathon, 5K and Fun Run.