Race Report – The Great North Run 2017

I’ve been running for six years now, and I’ve racked up a fair few races in that time. My “Jar of Awesome”, which holds my medals, is getting pretty full.

The Jar of Awesome.

While I’ve never thought too hard about my race bucket list, there have been a couple that have managed to slip into the back of my mind and politely asked me to notice them. The Great North Run is one such race and with good reason. The Great North Run, aka the GNR, is reported as the world’s biggest half marathon and the UK’s biggest mass participation running event. This year, 43,127 people crossed the finish line. I was told that the support rivaled the London Marathon, another bucket list race that I’ve been lucky enough to take part in, and they were not wrong.

Now, there are things you have to remember about races this big.

Firstly, if you have to travel, it is going to cost you. I booked my accommodation later than I would have liked and while looking for hotels in the area, some were pricing their rooms at £200+ a night. As I was looking to stay for two nights, it was nearly £500 just on a place to sleep. I ended up going with a company called Nirvana Europe, which was half the price of the hotels. This is mostly because I was in self catering student digs for the weekend, which was actually great. The Newcastle Uni student halls were so much nicer than the ones I had when I went to uni and they were only about 10-15 minute walk from the start zone.

Another thing to remember is that the run is going to be busy and it’s going to be congested. I met a couple of runners on my way back home who were complaining about the amount of runners, especially about the ones who started walking early on into the race and those who walked five abreast. I’m not going to get into race etiquette at the moment, but I will say that the congestion should not have been a shock due to the sheer size of the race. I rarely go to these sorts of races intent on getting a PB because of this.

Lastly, getting out will also be busy. One of the things I didn’t realise about the GNR when I first signed up, was that while it starts in the middle of Newcastle, it ends 13.1 miles away in South Shields. Which in terms of the run was great, it was a joy to spot the sea coming up to the 12 mile marker. It does mean that 47,000ish other runners and spectators will be trying to get out of the area on the same day. Which means queues, which means a bit of a wait. I do suggest having a plan to get back. Nirvana Europe does sell a bus ticket to get back to the start, which I was glad to get. There was no muss or fuss and to top it off, the bus dropped me back in front of the student digs. Score!

I have to say I loved this race. Yes, it was costly, yes it was busy and yes it took a while to get out the area, but those were minor complaints about a race that was really well organised, had a great atmosphere and was fun. Getting to the start was easy from where I was staying. The route was good, I enjoyed going over the bridge and the “Oggy Oggy Oggy” call in the underpass was fun to take part in. The support was excellent, loads of people turned up to cheer us along, bringing jelly babies, biscuits, orange slices and more. I did the hearts shape with my hands as I went past the numerous bands that were playing for us and got smiles and thumbs up back. I’ve got to give a shout out to the St John Ambulance member that found me a spare safety pin as I’d managed to lose one mid run.

A big highlight of the race for me was seeing Colin, aka @bigpinkdressgnr part way through the run. They truly are an inspiration for anyone that does fundraising and he always has the best looking dresses. He’s an absolute gent to boot, so maybe go and give him a follow on twitter or maybe go send him a donation, Colin runs to raise money for Breast Cancer Now.

For a race so huge, I found there to be very few issues on the day. I’ll admit that I didn’t use the bag drop this time, opting to take everything I needed round my waist. The water stations were well done, the start was long, but easy to find, and I found the finish chute worked well.

Are you one of the thousands upon thousands of people that have run the Great North Run and what did you think of it? Is it on your bucket list? Let me know in the comments!

 

I’m back…maybe.

It’s been a while since I’ve written on here. There’s no reason in particular as to why I’ve not been writing. Could be that in terms of running, it’s not been a great year. Oh don’t get me wrong, I’ve done some great races and I’ve run them with some of my best buds. It’s more that my running seems to be going backwards. I’m running slower and I’ve not beaten a single PB all year. My longest marathon time went up by 30 minutes after hitting a wall so monumental that I had to walk the last 6 miles. My half marathon time went up to over three hours, and my 10k is staying at roughly 1 hour 15ish. I don’t want to think about my 5k times.

Not only am I’m going slower when I want to go faster, but some runs have felt like an absolute slog through molasses. Realistically I know that not every run is going to be great and it’s okay when that happens, but when it feels like it’s more than usual, it’s a bit of a worry. To add to the annoyance of my slower running, I’ve also managed to put on weight. It’s only a couple of pounds, but it’s enough that I notice it. I’d also planned to run 1000 miles by the end of the year. As I’ve not even covered 300 at this point, I’ve thrown that idea out the window as well.

So what’s the plan now?

Well, there’s still the Great North Run in just over a weeks time. So there’s that to do. I’ll have to try to keep my base fitness over the autumn and winter months, and even though I don’t think there’s a way for me to hit 1000 miles without doing myself some awful damage, I might be able to hit 1000 kilometres instead though. Maybe.

I do need to plan for next year. I would like to run another marathon, partially because I feel I need to redeem myself from this years terrible performance. I’ve entered the London ballot, because of course I have, and I’ll find out if I’m in that next month. If I (more than likely) don’t get in, I’ll look for a different marathon.

One of the things I want to do though, and it’s a big thing, is lose weight. It’s a big thing, because losing weight is not an easy thing. It’s also a hard thing to admit sometimes. Of course I know the basics of it. Eat less. Move more. And I do move, quite a bit as it happens. I walk to and from work. I run a whole bunch. If I have the choice of walking or driving to a place, the majority of the time I’m going to pick walking. So the moving part I have down. Now it’s down to trying to eat less and eat healthier. Wish me luck?

Bragging rights

Or what I like to call my race finisher tees.

I do like the finisher medals I’ve gotten from the races I’ve taken part in. In fact, I have a nice vase where they all sit. I find them a nice reminder of what I’ve accomplished over the years, from not being able to run for 20 seconds, to completing three marathons, a couple of Tough Mudders and more. And while I like getting them and showing them off occasionally, they are basically just a nice reminder for me.

Finisher tees on the other hand, are my bragging rights. I love a good tee at the end of a race. I know, I know, not every race has a tee. Which is fine, I’ve raced a couple of times where the only thing I received at the end of the race was a cup of water, and that’s fine to. I’m just saying I love a good finishers tee. And do you know why? It’s in the title, folks. Bragging rights. It’s a big badge (or rather a tee) that yells “Yes, I ran THAT.”

Not everyone wants or needs to brag about what they’ve run. But as someone who doesn’t “look” like she runs long distance (I’ve genuinely had someone say that about me*), having the tee to prove it is great fun. Plus for some runs, it’s nice to see that others have run it to. “Oh you ran Brighton last year? I ran it to! Isn’t it a great route?”

My absolute fave Bragging rights tee though, is my Tough Mudder one. The 2014 tee was amazing and I still wear it today, usually on days when I need to remember that I can do the things I’ve set out to do.

Do you have any favourite finisher tees? Share them in the comments, I’d love to see them!

 

 

* “I thought marathon runners were all tall and thin.” – said about me while training for my second marathon. Same jerk guy said some other crappy stuff to my sis at the same time. Jerk guy was a jerk. But seriously, runners come in all shapes and sizes, don’t be that person.

Review – Garmin vivosmart HR

I like my tech. I have gadgets and gizmos aplenty. I got my first runners watch the first year I started running and so as my journey into fitness progressed and the more fitness related activities I do, the more I want to know just how I am doing on a day to day basis. It would seem natural to me to then get my grubby little mitts on an activity tracker.

The first wrist based tracker I bought was a Nike Fuelband. It was, well, basic. It gave an idea of how much I was moving, how many steps, sort of, and that was about it. It was time to update.

After reading a number of reviews, write-ups and talking to friends who have wrist based activity trackers, I decided to go for the Garmin viviosmart HR. My first runners watch was a Garmin, I liked it so much my second runners watch is a Forerunner 220 (the purple and white version). I got the vivosmart HR for Christmas and I am loving it.

I’ve used the vivosmart HR for running, swimming, cross training at the gym and of course, everyday wear.

Let’s start with Everyday Wear.

This is what the vivosmart HR tracks everyday. Footsteps, Stairs climbed, Intensity minutes (how many you’ve done that week), Calories burnt, how far you’ve travelled, Current heart rate (with average resting), your sleep cycles and of course, time and date. It also will tell you to move if you’ve been sitting still for too long. Like most things these days, it all links back to the Garmin App, which you can add up to two trackers on there, which is great for me as that means I can have both the vivo and the Forerunner synced at the same time.

One of the things I like about the vivo is that it not only tracks your footsteps, but actively changes your daily goal depending on how much you walk. Did 8,000 steps yesterday? Do 8,500 today. Got that? Do another 500 the day after. Missed your goal a couple of days in a row? Okay, lets put your goal down a bit.

I also like the inbuilt heart rate monitor. it seems accurate to me and it means that I can see how my heart rate changes between resting and running.

Running.

I only use my runners watch for running, but the first time I used my vivo, I used it in tandem with my Forerunner, just to see how the metrics would compare to the dedicated runners watch. It was useful to see and thankfully the metrics were not too far out (not as in depth as the Forerunner though), although it appears that the vivo was a bit more generous on how much I had run. So for running, I’m sticking with my Forerunner. It is nice to have the ability to track any running at any point though, so when I went on holiday and didn’t take my Forerunner, the vivo was handy to have.

Swimming.

I am so not used to taking tech into water. Bar the GoPro, that little git is great in the water. Garmin’s website says that the vivosmart HR has a water rating of 5 ATM, that means it can “withstand pressures equivalent to a depth of 50 meters”. Swimming in a pool should be no problem then. Now, when I go swimming, I usually just swim laps for a set amount of time. I now have some metrics to look at and I’m not sure what’s good at this point. But there’s distance, time, pace and calories burnt, so there is at least something for me to start checking. The vivo performed fine in the water for tracking it seems, but the swiping was a little bit finicky while in the pool. Nothing too terrible though.

Gym stuff.

I’m loving that I can track all of my gym sessions now. It’s much easier than the constant pictures I used to take to remind myself of what I’d done. A couple of clicks on the button and a tap or two and it’s tracking the session. Click the button again and it stops. All of my workouts are now on the Garmin app and I can see just how much I am doing per week. You can also rename and select what kind of workout is was, so you can easily see what you’ve done.

Other bits.

I asked for the purple version, and I’ll admit, when I first got it I thought I had been given the black version. It’s a rather subtle colour, but I think it works in its favour. The software needed to update a couple of times, but once all of that was done, it has worked fine.

Conclusion.

Now then, I do take the metrics and telemetry from these things with a pinch of salt. I don’t believe the numbers gathered are the be all and end all of my getting fit and they might not be totally accurate, but I do believe that they can give a good indication. I like the Garmin vivosmart HR. It’s a great bit of kit. It fits nicely on my wrist, the metrics seem better than my last tracker, it’s easy to use, and it works with my other Garmin stuff as well. So it’s a big thumbs up from me.

Do you use activity trackers? Which do you use?

 

This years goals

As is usual for me, I have the final couple of months of the year as my “off season”. That basically equates to me keeping a base fitness and still eating like I’m training. Whoops! It’s the beginning of the year (just) though, so it’s time to think about what I want to achieve for 2016.

I decided that this year I was not going to go for a marathon. I didn’t even bother trying to get into the London Marathon and I managed to hold off on buying a ticket to the Brighton Marathon no matter how many times they try to tempt me.

 

Instead of marathons, I’m going for half marathons and more obstacle course races. Not unlike last year, I want to get faster with my running and better all over fitness. I also want to run the Silverstone Half, as I had to pull out of last years race due to injury.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to finally get back on the scales as well, as I’ve not been on them for a while. Little bit worried to be fair, I’ve not checked my weight in ages and I know I’ve put weight on. I am actually looking to focus a bit more on weight loss this year as well. I’ve read that losing weight can help with your running speed, so that will be interesting to see if it does help.

So, the short version – lose weight, get faster, get stronger. Not necessarily in that order.

What are your fitness goals for the year?

 

 

New year…

And another restart of the blog!

The second half of last year got a little busy. I started about a dozen posts and didn’t get to finish a single one.

But here we are with a new year and another go at posting as regularly as I can, so don’t be surprised when I put up race reports of races I did last year!

In the mean time, I’ve updated my Race CV, so you can see what I have planned for the year so far. I’m not running any marathons this year, but I do have a couple of half marathons and three obstacle course races booked.

Do you have any races planned yet? Are you heading to any of the races I’m heading to?

Race Report – The British 10k 2015

In the crush up to the start line, I remembered why I only run the British 10k for charity.

This is a busy race that is held smack bang in the center of London. As central as dropping our bags just down the road from Buckingham Palace. You then thread through the streets till you get towards the Wellington Arch. I say towards. I was quite far back and was initially stopped part way down Pall Mall when the gun went off. Then you get to go running around some iconic London landmarks, including Piccadilly Circus and the Houses of Parliament.

It’s a good race, but it’s not a great race. Small issues seem to plague this race and many of us that have run well organised races will probably have a harder time enjoying the day.

The crush of the start of the British 10k

You start this race in waves. Sprinter, runners, joggers, sometimes walkers. Everyone was mixed in together in the crush. Don’t get me wrong, I’m used to starting at the back of the pack. Hell, last time I ran the Brighton Marathon I was still in the queue for the toilets when the gun went off. I casually jogged to the start line with time to spare before my group started moving. The difference was, at the start of the marathon I was in a pen with people who were running at a similar time to me. Not so at the British 10k. Huge waves of mixed ability runners crossed the line at the same time, meaning that faster runners had to dodge between the slower groups. Lots of near collisions there. Also I had nearly a 40 minute wait to just get across the start line. The first across the finish line had gotten there before I had even started.

There seemed to be a lot of pedestrians crossing in between runners as well. Thankfully the people I saw managed to cross while not getting too in the way. Certainly no-one was quite as bad as the woman who lugged two huge suitcases across the path of a gaggle of us at the Brighton Marathon one year. I had a few choice words for her as I skidded to avoid the suitcases.

The course was new this year. Sadly, I wasn’t a fan of it. There was a lot of running up and down the same roads. Up and down seven different roads to be picky. The good thing about this sort of set up is that you can look out for team mates going the other way. I managed to yell/wave at a good few SpecialEffect runners.

Passing through the finish line, I got a respectable 1.15:43, but not a PB. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have a great run. I started off strong, but the muggy heat of the day and my own idiocy of not taking a drink to the start line did not help. I realised half way through I probably wasn’t going to get a PB, so I slowed down a little and just enjoyed the atmosphere, which London always brings. I had a bit of a play with the crowd, getting them to cheer when I went past.

I am also not a fan of how the medals were given out, which was at the baggage bays. Now, I can see the logic. Pick up your bag, get your medal. Go about your merry way. In practice it left a lot to be desired. I did have a read through my pack, but I honestly do not recall if it said where to get my medal. I had to take a guess. Even then, any poor soul holding onto a box of medals was accosted by droves of people wanting their precious.

Okay, this has gotten pretty long and I’m still not finished. Let’s go to list mode for ease of reading.

• No differentiated pace bays – leading to close calls, much swerving and hold ups.
• Long walk to the start from the baggage bays.
• Long wait at the start of the race – leading to cool down before starting
• No water to pick up on route to the start that I saw – even the 1 mile race I did had this
• Water stops were not well done – no calls to go further down to where there WAS water and one volunteer was desperately throwing full water bottles at people
• Long walk back to the baggage bays
• Medal pick up a confusing mess – could easily have resulted in people taking more than one medal* causing later runners to miss out
• No goody bags**, or if there were I didn’t even see them
• No crowd control with spectators running across mid run

I do feel like I’m being picky with some of my complaints. I know there’s a whole lot of logistics that go into a race this size and being in such a built up area has to have its challenges. Although at the same time, I’ve seen big races do better. I’ve seen smaller races do better. I wonder how much would have to change to give the British 10k just that extra something to make it a truly great race to attend. All of the elements are there, they just need tweaking to be something better. It probably doesn’t help that I’m now someone with a bunch of great races under her belt.

Even with all of the complaints (be they valid or persnickety), the day was not a bad one. I did get to run with the SpecialEffect runners, who are a truly fantastic bunch of people.

Did you run the British 10k? How did you find it?

* I gave out medals at the Royal Parks Half last year. I had at least four people ask for an extra medal for their kids. Your kid didn’t run it, they do not get a medal. The medals are for all the runners behind you that ran the damned race. NO EXTRA MEDALS FOR YOU! (Sorry, I was somewhat annoyed that people asked me this).

** I don’t always expect a goody bag. But for a race of this size and profile I was shocked that there was nothing.

Local Fun Run Fun

It turns out there is a local fun run near me. And I mean near. I can run to the park it’s in in about 5 minutes, so it really is local. So how could I say no to running it?

Another terrible selfie of me at the start and another outing for my SpecialEffect tee!

I’d decided to use it as a race to try to beat my 5k time that I’d gotten last year in Portugal. That was a local 5k that was in horrendous heat and up and down a horrible hill. I had hated that run, but it’s going to live on in my memory as I got the biggest cheer going across the finish line. I’d run my guts out around that course and when I saw that finish line I went over as fast as my arse (and legs) could carry me. That final spurt of speed earned me a cheer and a mention at the next meeting.

Let’s not mention the fact I needed two people to stand either side of me to make sure I didn’t fall over after that 5k as well, shall we?

So, to the run of fun. That I didn’t think would be much fun as I was going to act like fast gross zombies were on my heels. I was psyching myself up for a rather long threshold session. I ran hard. I ran fast, or at least fast for me. I knew what sort of pace I needed to keep to beat the 34:27 from last year and somehow I managed to stay at that pace for a good while. I pushed so hard I had to stop and walk at points, for fear of falling over or throwing up.

Coming up to the last bend, I realised that I was going to get across the line with minutes to spare. I was ecstatic! Three minutes off of a 5k PB? That was more than I could have hoped for! Crossing the line I stopped the Garmin.

The watch said 31:01.2. It also said 2.8 miles.

That is not 5k. 5k is 3.1somethingorother.

Now, I’m used to running a bit further than the usually posted race length. In fact, I ran the 26.7 miles at the London Marathon this year and didn’t bat an eye. I was weaving quite a bit and running over was an expectation I had.

But running under the course length was new to me. As the course wasn’t chip timed either and this meant that my watch was going to have to be the timer. What did I do? Grabbed my medal, threw it over my head, took a quick pic of the 31:01.2 time on my watch and then went and finished the run.

My watch clocked my 5k distance time at 33:32.6. Still almost a minute quicker than my previous 5k. Either way, I had a new PB. The question was which one did I take? The 31 or the 33?

I asked on Twitter. I asked on the Running Bug forums. Everyone gave good advice, but there was still an itch I had to scratch. Was it my Garmin that had been affected or was the course short?

I grabbed the course and my run from Garmin Connect. I then went to a course checking website and followed the route. Even on the site, the course came up short. With that in mind, I’m going to take the 33:32.6 as my new 5k PB time.

After all, if I take the 31:01.2, then I’ll only be cheating myself.

Have you ran a race that was too short or too long? What did you do?

Race Retrospective – Tough Mudder North West 2014

Tough Mudder season has well and truly begun. With that in mind, along with my upcoming return to TM North West this September, I thought I’d do a post about my first go at a Tough Mudder last year. For those of you who have not done a mud or obstacle run before, Tough Mudder is an event that takes place over about 12 miles, with lots of obstacles to test your mettle. Many of these obstacles involve mud. Or water. Maybe some ice. It’s very much an extreme full body workout.

I ended up agreeing to run a Tough Mudder not unlike the way I ended up agreeing to run my first marathon. My mate Matt said he was interested in running it for a cancer charity. I said count me in.

I did train for the TM, but not as well as I would have liked. I’d completely killed my legs at the Brighton Marathon at the start of April and my running had taken a serious hit in the following months. I could still run, but not for the length or intensity that I was used to. I’d started training my upper and core, but was it enough? (Spoiler: A big fat hell no it was not enough) Despite all that, I got to the start in a positive frame of mind. After all, this wasn’t a race where I was running by myself. I had this lot with me.

Team De La Luna at the start of Tough Mudder North West and before the mud.

In general, it was a lot like most running events that I’d been to. I wore worn in kit. I ate a certain way the day before the event. Also like most races you stick your race number on your front. Unlike other events I have run, you are also encouraged to write your number about your person, on your face and arms, but this is because you are more than likely going to lose that bloody number quicker than that. I also wore my old trainers that I ran my first marathon in. I had decided that this would be a good send off for them, one more first time race. Another spoiler: that was a dumb ass decision with the trainers. Dumb Ass.

The event runs all day, and you go as huge waves every 20-30 mins or so. You get to have a warm up with your fellow mudders and then, before you even get to the start, you have to climb over a wooden wall. Packed into the starting area, you take a knee and the Mudder Pledge. It’s quite a good pledge, really. It sets the tone for the day.

• I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.
• I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.
• I do not whine – kids whine.
• I help my fellow mudders complete the course.
• I overcome all fears.

And the thing is, the pledge is right. There were no egos on the course that I saw. Everyone helped everyone, even those of us that needed a little more help than others, was done without a nasty word or mean comment. And if you were having trouble, you were grabbed, shoved and manhandled over whatever it was that was in your way.

The course is basically a little run, then an obstacle, then repeat until you get to the final one called Electroshock Therapy. The obstacles seem to get harder the further along you go, although this could be because you’re getting exhausted from all the running and previous climbing, crawling and everything else.

I wanted to try as many of said obstacles as I possibly could, and try most of them I did. It was fun climbing over logs and through things. I think I missed off two that I knew would either A) kill my knees more or B) would have taken me way too long. I did fail a couple as well. I started on Balls to the Wall, but didn’t feel strong enough to get up. I attempted the impressive giant of a half pipe that is Everest. I hauled my butt up it four times, but alas, I did not make it. Remember those trainers I talked about earlier? They were a dumb ass move as it was on obstacles like Everest that they really let me down. That and my bulk probably didn’t help either, but still. The trainers had no grip what so ever by that point. I hit the ground running and as soon as I started going up the gradient of the pipe my feet started cartwheeling round like I was in a Scooby Doo episode trying to outrun a monster.

COLD COLD COLD COLD!

For those of us who were unable to go over/under/through certain obstacles, you always have the option to bow out. There are no penalties for missing an obstacle, you simply go around it. That doesn’t mean you can’t help though. At the 10 foot high Hero walls a couple of us didn’t do them (knee killers reasons for me), but even though we didn’t go up and over, I stayed on one side trying to catch people that were coming down and one of the guys stood on the other side, giving fellow Mudders a hand (and a shoulder to stand on) to get up.

It took us about 6 hours to get around. This included getting round the course, helping at obstacles and in some cases, just waiting to get ON the obstacles. I suggest going earlier in the day, as when we went at around midday there was congestion at a bunch of the obstacles, especially the later ones. Standing around in the cold whilst covered in mud was not great.

I was a hard event, partially due to me not exactly being ready for it. The next day my good ol’ generally trusty legs were a little wobbly, but it certainly wasn’t the worst that they had ever felt. My upper body and core on the other hand – Ouch, ouch and thrice ouch. My arms refused to work and my core just didn’t want to know. I ached for days afterwards, but it was worth it.

All in all, it was a lot of fun. Horribly dirty, finding mud three days later despite multiple showers kind of gross fun. Really my only complaint, if there was one, was that there could have been more toilet and water stops on course, but that’s about it.

I’m going back this year. The team has grown from it’s initial six to fourteen of us now running. I have about three months to train, hopefully I’ll be better prepared this time around. I think I’ll go and get some new trail trainers now and pop down the gym.

Orange headbands claimed!

Last year we ran for Macmillan Cancer Support, raising over a grand for the charity. This year we are running for the Astro Brain Tumour Fund. If you would like to sponsor our team of TM legionnaires and newbies, please do so via Just Giving page which can be found at this link.

Race report – The Bupa Westminster Mile

I really have been doing this running thing backwards. I started off at a marathon and I’ve worked my way down to a mile. It did mean that getting ready for this run was a breeze compared to the 26.2 mile run I did at the end of April.

I’ll admit, I entered the Bupa Westminster Mile run on a whim. It was a cheap (a whole £5) and it’s kind of local. Why not do it? It meant another outing for the SpecialEffect tee and a few more eyes getting to see it. It meant more race day practice.

As the race is only a mile, everyone goes in waves. Waves included single/general runners, families, and groups which included Sweatshop and This Girl Can. I was in one of the earlier general groups, although if I had realised about the This Girl Can group earlier, I would have wanted to have run with them.

We were told what time we were starting by the colour coding and starting letter on our race numbers. The wave sizes are much smaller than the corrals/pens that you get with the big races where the runners all start at the same time. I’ve waited up to twenty minutes before getting over the line before (I usually start in the later pens), so getting to the start line and only having a couple of people in front of me was a pretty neat thing. We did wait about 10 minutes for the previous wave to get round, but that was fine as we had music being played and an announcer chatting with the crowd. He picked out a couple of London Marathon finisher tee wearers and a young runner to chat to while we waited.

The starting point for the Westminster Mile is roughly where the London Marathon finishes on the Mall. It follows the road down and round St James’s park, round to the right pass Horse Guards Parade, and then down the Birdcage Walk and finishes in front of Buckingham Palace.

After we finished our runs, we then had to go and get our timing chips taken off of our shoes, followed by picking up our goodie bags and medals. The post run organisation flowed really well, even with a number of us taking medal selfies in front of the palace.

For a race that’s so short, the medal and goodie bag was pretty darn shiny.

The goodie bag contents. Yes, those are noodles.

The medal was much nicer than I was expecting. Here is the medal for the mile compared to the London Marathon medal. It’s nearly the same size!

Westminster Mile medal on the left, London Marathon medal on the right.

I had originally gotten to the assembly area in Green Park with loads of time to spare before my race time, so I ended up chilling in a deck chair around the stage. The area was pretty empty to start with, but was more lively after I finished my wave. There was sections where people were doing some stretching on yoga mats, picnic blankets to lie on, activity area for the kids, some exhibit bits, free Buxton water, the stage, and of course, race info, secure baggage area and about a billion portaloos.

This was an enjoyable race. Yes, it was short, but it was for beginners, families, seasoned pros and everyone. It felt inclusive and fun. Everyone was running it. I saw those that flew around, families running together, little ones being coaxed along by parents, people in wheelchairs and with walkers, kids wearing superhero costumes and the parents joining in to. As races go, I think it’s a brilliant way to get into the spirit of races. Plus there’s nothing like a fat shiny medal to make you want more of them.

Oh, I also got a mile PB. I got my usual 12ish min mile down to a nice 9 minutes and 44 seconds. Win.