Andy Smith enjoyed his weekend in Brighton and participating in the Sussex Beacon Half. The weather was perfect, cool with a slight westerly breeze. The race started well and the first two miles flew past - I couldn't believe I was running so fast with so little effort. Then a child on a scooter decided it would be a good idea to dash across the road right in front of me! Fortunately I managed to scoop the little chap up and deposit him on the pavement - not sure what happened to him after that but I decided stopping would cause too much of a pile up! At 10k I was still going well, up the incline mile 9 to 10 I caught up with a couple of runners who had sneaked ahead of me but was beginning to feel a few twinges in my lower back (that's what you get from swinging children around when running at speed!)......which really hit as I went up the second incline towards mile 11. No longer twinges but real spasms. The only option was to walk and see if they eased, which they did until I started running again. Only option was to walk/jog the last mile and a half - but gritted my teeth and ran the last 200 yards to the finish two minutes outside my PB and well down on what I had hoped for. Generally I found the organisation good and the route was nice and flat but with a little sting in the tail at the end as it went up and down the cliffs a couple of times to add a little variation. I will return next year to conquer my gremlin.  
[Submitted by Andrew Smith]