Thousands of people take part in the Yorkshire Half Marathon each year. Sheffield student Milly Hayton, 21, tells Every Side of Life what it takes to complete the 13 mile race.
Milly and her friend decided to sign up after they passed a sign for the Yorkshire Half Marathon run by Run For All and Sheffield City Council. She ran the half marathon to raise money for the Alzheimer’ Society.
She chose the charity because her Granddad suffers from Alzheimer’s. “They have done a lot of stuff to help him, so I wanted to help them.”
She raised around £350 for the charity by using a Just Giving account alongside separate sponsorship forms.
Twelve weeks before the race she began researching how to train for the 13 mile race. “We looked for a training plan online to help and luckily we found a 12 weeks one from BUPA.”
Milly began suffering from problems with her knee part way through the training caused by the impact of running on the roads. She cut down her runs to two a week and had to buy knee supports.
The plan included running four times a week. The longest run they advise before the race is 12 miles, but with her injured knee the furthest Milly managed was 10.
“On the day my knee wasn’t too bad, I’d rested and the adrenaline of the race kept me going.”
Milly and her friend had not seen the course until her family came down from the Lake District the day before. They decided to drive around the course the course she would be running the next day.
Milly and her family were shocked by the amount of hills there were in the first five miles. Between the fourth and fifth mile there is a separate race called King of the Hill. Milly said the winner is whoever runs up the hill the fastest.
Milly and her friend had not seen the course until her family came down from the Lake District the day before. They decided to drive around the course the course she would be running the next day.
Milly and her family were shocked by the amount of hills there were in the first five miles. Between the fourth and fifth mile there is a separate race called King of the Hill. Milly said the winner is whoever runs up the hill the fastest.
"Children were there handing out jelly babies."
“ We knew it wouldn’t be completely flat, it’s Sheffield but it was still a shock which threw me off on the day.”
On the day Milly' family and friends were cheering her on at the start line she was also given an Alzheimer's society top with her name on it. " It meant random people could cheer me on. It really helped get me through."
Each runner is given an electrical chip which they use to measure their race time.
The ASDA Foundation was giving out water bottles and there were children handing out jelly babies throughout the course.
Milly said she never hit a mental wall which many runners claim to face during races. She found that after seven miles she found she gotten into a comfortable pace. "It was over half-way I just kept looking at the positives."
Milly completed the race in two hours and 57 seconds.
On the day Milly' family and friends were cheering her on at the start line she was also given an Alzheimer's society top with her name on it. " It meant random people could cheer me on. It really helped get me through."
Each runner is given an electrical chip which they use to measure their race time.
The ASDA Foundation was giving out water bottles and there were children handing out jelly babies throughout the course.
Milly said she never hit a mental wall which many runners claim to face during races. She found that after seven miles she found she gotten into a comfortable pace. "It was over half-way I just kept looking at the positives."
Milly completed the race in two hours and 57 seconds.
“They have done a lot of stuff to help him, so I wanted to help them.”
“I really wanted to get it under two and half hours but the hills at the start slowed me down.”
After completing the race each runner was given a goody bag containing a top a mars bar and a few leaflets.
“Afterwards my family and I went for food at The Cavendish and we had Dominos for tea to celebrate.”
After completing the race each runner was given a goody bag containing a top a mars bar and a few leaflets.
“Afterwards my family and I went for food at The Cavendish and we had Dominos for tea to celebrate.”