The Mercer Surrey Half Marathon

Back in 2017 The Mercer Surrey Half Marathon won the prestigious award of being named as not just the best half marathon, but as the UK’s Best Road Race and whilst the accolade is not endorsed, it was won as a direct result of voluntary reviews received from its participants……..and let’s face it, the best judges are the people like you and me that actually run the races.

The chip-timed 13.1 mile run follows a professionally marked and measured single loop along fully-closed roads from central Woking into the surrounding countryside. This picturesque race is made all the more popular and enjoyable by live performances from local bands, aid stations and communities of cheering spectators.

Boasting one of the fastest half marathon finish times on record (62 minutes) which is a testament to its relatively flat course and support from spectators it’s ever likely that our speedster Ross Wilkes couldn’t resist the temptation of giving this one a go.

Ross tells me that he was using this race “as a bit of a threshold pace tester for Manchester marathon next month” and decided to take a leap of faith into no man’s land and ran his first race without a watch. “It made it a bit different, running to feel rather than time” but “also made it a lot more difficult to pace though”.

Ross said he found himself having ran the majority of the race way too fast and had to drop his speed for the last couple of miles. One big positive for him though was at the 10 mile marker when the chap that he’d been running with said they’d done it in a mind blowing 59 minutes! Ross says that this time is his end goal for the 10 miles distance and will be a great confidence booster for him for future 10 miles races knowing that its possible and he can achieve it.

I think, and I’m sure you’ll agree that our Rocket Ross can achieve anything that he works for. He crossed the line in an astonishing 1:21:38, finishing in 62nd position overall out of a field of 1600 runners! Ross said of the race “it was a great event, excellent course and a good opportunity to try out my new race shoes too.”