Race Report 2 October 2022 3 min

Lyon Half Marathon 2022 — My First Personal Record

My first Lyon Half Marathon on the weekend of 1-2 October 2022. Goal: enjoy the race and, why not, set a personal record.

On this weekend of 1-2 October 2022, I returned to racing with one single goal: to enjoy it. A good time would obviously be welcome, but after a fairly quiet summer on the training front I knew my chances of beating my record were slim.

I arrived in Lyon on Saturday early afternoon — as with every race, bib collection happens the day before. I was greeted by rain, not the best start to the weekend, though it was still a great opportunity to explore this magnificent city. The race village was at Place Bellecour and I learned that around 30,000 runners were expected the next day. The kit was quite nice but I was a little disappointed by the limited goodies — only a Sanytol product sample was included, while some races are far more generous.

The Course

Lyon Half Marathon 2022 Course Map

Sunday: Race Day

Sunny today with lows of 13°C and a high expected around 22°C. My corral’s start time was 9:08am — those targeting 2h. I arrived at the start with plenty of time and used it for a proper warm-up. It was the first time I’d done one before a race and I didn’t regret it for a second.

And we’re off! I could sense the runners were eager to get moving — I understood it: standing around in the corral makes you restless. I had to stay calm though, not to go out too fast. In the opening kilometres I held around 5m50/km, which surprised me a little. I was still worried I was above my comfortable cruising pace. After the first aid station at kilometre 5, I decided to listen only to my body — accelerate or slow down as it dictated. I’ll note that the first aid station was water only, nothing to eat — a first on an official race.

Past kilometre 10, roughly halfway, I found myself after the Pont Paul Bocuse heading back towards the Lyon city centre. I was around 58 minutes at that point, projecting onto a finish of approximately 2h02. The subsequent aid stations were only slightly more generous — bananas, pretzels and slices of gingerbread. At kilometre 15 I was holding close to my opening pace and told myself I could put in a good time. My feet were starting to complain but my legs felt good.

Approaching kilometre 20, I knew the finish was close but the effort was getting hard to sustain and I started to slow slightly, despite wanting to give everything. Not by much though. I finally arrived at Place Bellecour and the crowd was incredible — pushing every single runner to the line.