Aidan Marlin in the Big Half

Only one Bournemouth AC representative was present in the 2024 edition of the Big Half and that was Aidan Marlin

Aside from the London Marathon, The Big Half is probably the most high profile race that’s staged in the nation’s capital. The course covers much of the same ground but in the other direction. From Tower Bridge through Canary Wharf and to the Cutty Sark, many of London‘s most notorious landmarks feature on the route.

It’s a race that has featured some heroics from Bournemouth AC members in the past. Who can forget the sight of Craig Palmer and Rob McTaggart hogging the TV limelight when running alongside Steph Twell who was leading the women’s race?

Last year Simon Hearn did it and he go round in 1:27:16 which put him 912th overall and 13th in the 55 to 59 category. In 2020 Tag delivered what was a massive PB at the time for him of 1:08:29. Ant Clark did it that year as well and finished in 1:14:10.

Aidan Marlin in action at the Big Half

Aidan’s best half marathon time thus far was just under 1 hour 34 minutes

This year it was the turn of one of the club’s more recent recruits, Aidan Marlin, to take to the streets and see what he could produce. Those who attend the Bournemouth AC training sessions on Tuesday nights will know that Aidan possesses an incredibly quick burst of speed. It’s really on the endurance side that he is lacking though so the Big Half was always going to prove a big test for him.

Completing the Run Bournemouth Half Marathon in 1:34:08 last October, Aidan went on to post a 1:33:51 at the Bournemouth Bay Run Half Marathon in March. How would he fare on the bustling streets of London though?

Setting off very quickly, Aidan posted a 6:35 for his first mile, followed by a 6:38 for his second mile. The third mile contained a slight incline and Aidan went through that in 7:02 to put him at 21:04 for his first 5k.

He then registered a 7:34 for his fourth mile before a 6:37 and a 6:53 took him to 10k in 42:24. After that he put in a 6:59 for his seventh mile and a 6:57 for his eighth. Then he went through his ninth mile in 7:11. That put his last 5k at 22:29 so he’d slowed a bit from the pace he was going at at first.

Aidan Marlin competing in the Big Half

Aidan found it tough to maintain the pace as the race progressed

He now had four miles left to go to hang on and to dig deep and try to keep the speed up. He was down to 7:22 for his tenth mile before he then registered a 7:16 for his 11th mile. There was then a 7:20 for his 12th mile which put his last 5k at 23:22, so his pace had dropped off considerably.

Posting a 7:38 split for his 13th mile, he then finished with a strong final burst that got him over the line in 1:33:15. That put him in 1,275th place overall out of 16,379 participants. It was a 36 second PB for Aidan as well so all-in-all a good performance, even though he faded a touch as the race progressed. His pace averaged out at 7:04 for the duration of the race.

Jack Rowe of Aldershot, Farnham & District won the elite race in 1:02:35 with Jake Smith of Pontypridd taking 2nd in 1:04:07. For the win out of the elite women it was a battle between Calli Hauger-Thackery and Eilish McColgan and in the end it was Eilish who prevailed recording a time of 1:09:14. Calli crossed the line 21 seconds later to finish as 2nd female.

The start of the Elite race of the Big Half

The elite race featured Jake Smith, Jack Rowe, Calli Hauger-Thackery and Eilish McColgan

The positives for Aidan were that the speed is definitely there and he just needs to work on his endurance which can be easily done with some longer training runs and some higher mileage. No doubt there will be faster times to come as well when he learns to manage his pace a little better so he can maintain it for the duration.