Today was supposed to be a day that should have happened back in March. Today was a day that should have seen me take part in my biggest race of the last two years. Sadly life has a nasty habit of kicking me firmly in the bollocks a lot.

Coronavirus put a stop to the World Half Marathon Championships happening in March and it also put a stop to me taking part in the mass part of the race today when the organisers decided there should only be an elite version of the race.

I rushed over to my girlfriend’s house to retrieve my Ethernet cable so I could watch the race on TV and sat there with mixed emotions. There was excitement at seeing some of the best long-distance runners in the world battling it out, and sadness because I was supposed to be there.

I won’t go into too much detail about the race (there will be a section for my running exploits for those of you who will be interested). But it did make me wonder if I should give up on my dream of racing abroad. I have tried FIVE times now and each time something has got in the way.

World Half Marathon Championships 2018 in Valencia: Our flights were cancelled 36 hours before we were due to leave because the French Air Traffic people went on strike.

Berlin Marathon 2018: This was meant to make up for me missing out on the World Half Marathon Championships, but Reiss booked us to go out a week AFTER the race took place.

Malta Half Marathon 2019: The race was cancelled the night before due to the first storm the island had suffered in 37 years!

World Half Marathon Championships 2020 in Gdynia: Coronavirus forced the race to be moved from March to October. Then three weeks before the revised date the organisers decided that they would only have the elite race.

Is it me or am I jinxed? Do I dare look to the World Half Marathon Championships 2022 in China (of all bloody places!)? Or should I just take the hint and concentrate on UK races from now on?

Answers on a postcard, please!

I decided not to go and watch Custom House as I couldn’t afford to buy the beers after the game, so I did some cleaning and worked on my blog until the Millwall game came on. I went for a run whilst listening to it on the radio. Needless to say there was a lot more swearing coming from me than there usually is when I am running!

Still, a win is a win, no matter how lucky we might have been to have walked away with it.

Photo curtesy of kawowo.com