The Reading Half Marathon is a fantastic race. If you want to run a half marathon with buzzing atmosphere throughout the course and a brilliant finish, the Reading Half has to be on your list, writes Hannah Webster.

It was the 29th year the race has been going on Sunday, and apart from a 10-minute delay at the start which is common with such huge races, you can tell the organisers have got the event to work like a well-oiled machine over the years.

I won’t lie, part of the reason I love the race is that I got a personal best time running it on Sunday, in two hours, nine minutes and 36 seconds, knocking about three minutes off my previous PB. But coupled with that, to cross the finish line after running down the ramp into the Madejski Stadium and through the line with hundreds of people cheering was simply a wonderful feeling. It certainly trumped the Birmingham half marathon in October last year, where hundreds of runners including myself were forced to stop short of the finish line and get swallowed by the crowd as they queued for 10 minutes.

The race route had some hills in it, and there were various undulating parts, but nothing I couldn’t manage after running up and down a much steeper hill near my home for the last four months. Crowds lined virtually every part of the race, particularly in the city centre, and where there were fewer people there were bands and drums playing for the runners. The feeling I got as a participant was that the organisers had everything under control, that they were experienced at dealing with such a massive event (about 15,000 runners) and all I had to worry about was my pace.

And that’s exactly what I did. All my focus was on controlling my pace and my form. I didn’t get carried away at the start when everyone was flying past me, and kept my head when I started to feel the ache of fatigue in my hips. I took opportunities to run slightly faster when they arose – like a downhill – but otherwise I didn’t panic and was coolly aware of my capabilities, and simply kept going and enjoyed the atmosphere.

As a result, my splits were pretty even and I achieved exactly what I set out to. It showed me a lot about how important what is going on in your head is in a race. Now I will be really going for it in my next half to get in at under two hours. I know I’m capable of it, it’ll simply be all about the training.

For the race results for the Reading Half Marathon, click here

* I’m running the New York Marathon in November, with Sports Tours International, to raise money for Walsall Hospice. To book a place in the New York Marathon contact Sports Tours International by visiting www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk or telephone 0161 703 8161. Visit my fundraising page at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HannahWebster