Chester half marathon

Race: Chester half marathon
Time/Position: 1.20.35 (45th from 7000 [4th V45])
I was due a bad race, and this was it. Shame it had to happen on a local event, but never mind! I did the old Chester half at least six times in the early 2000s, but have avoided it since it became commercialised. However, I decided I should give the new course and event a chance this year and was (I assumed) well trained for the distance, with the right combination of speed and endurance. It was baffling, therefore, to find the pace unsustainable when trying to get close to my PB of 1.17. No idea what the issue was: too much racing (last Sunday's tough half marathon, for example) or perhaps it was a bad night's sleep, or perhaps the hayfever that I suffer mildly from at this time of year (often notice a dip in form in May). No particularly unusual circumstances though, and it was my 42nd half marathon. Whatever it was, after initially enjoying the route along Bridge Street and the City Centre, I began to struggle a bit. I hooked onto a group at a similar pace, but just after the turn for home at Two Mills, I started to struggle properly. By mile 9 at Saughall I was really blowing and only revived after taking my one emergency gel. I had lost a lot of time and multiple places by now though, and even had to walk for a bit. At least 15 runners went past me on the return leg, and I lost more time on the short hill from the canal to the finish in front of the Town Hall. A nice event, which obviously takes in far more of the city than the old course, although it is three or four times more expensive! You get a sense of occasion, though, with big crowds especially at the finish. Like a mini-London, so met the family and had an ice cream to wind down.