Went to London the previous day and stayed at the London Elizabeth in Lancaster Terrace, just a stone’s throw from both the tube station and Hyde Park. A good choice though the beds were a bit soft and the room a bit noisy. We went via the TKTs booth in Leicester Square and got tickets for ‘The 39 Steps’ - slightly restricted view but OK for £14.50 each. The tube was hot and busy all weekend so after we had checked in we walked across Hyde Park so we could catch the Piccadilly Line directly to Piccadilly Circus. Great show then a look round Lilywhites and fuelled up at Pizza Hut afterwards. We walked off some of the gluttony going up Regent Street to catch the tube at Oxford Circus back to the hotel.
The start
After a good breakfast and checking out we took a gentle stroll across the park to the start. It provided me with the warm up I needed though the weather was cool and drizzly. A bit of confusion with the baggage queues meant that time was wasted and I never got to the loo before the start but as it was only 20 minutes from the hotel it wasn’t much of a problem. There was an official warm up led by a group on the stage but those of use still trying to check in the bags were trying to get through those doing the warm up and I only just missed getting punched as the routine changed to that sort of move. Eventually called to our start pens (me in the Maroon one at the back). I missed whatever the start signal was and we just started moving towards the start line. Around 13 minutes later we got there and started running.
First 4 Miles
I managed to keep to a reasonable pace and not get too carried away. As we past the front of Buckingham Palace (at about 1.5m) the leader of the race came the other way (about 5.25m) on the other side of the road. Ok he did have a 13min start, which I guess at the pace he was running would have been about 3miiles but crikey it was quick. There was no Royal Standard so I guess her majesty wasn’t watching the race. Continued on past St James’s Park , The Houses of Parliament onto Westminster Bridge where we had to do a U turn to get back on to the embankment. As with many other places on the course we could see runners well ahead of us coming in the opposite direction, but we could also see we went last nor suffering quite that much.
Miles 4-8
These miles went quite nicely, 4-5 was spent looking for the loo which we knew was along the embankment somewhere. Fifty pence to use this loo! Luckily there was a marshal outside handing out the 50p. Girls were using both sets of toilets with the men only allowed the urinals in the gents. It was then on through Admiralty Arch, past St James’s Park down, The Mall (Queenie still out) past Green Park and back into Hyde Park through the Wellington Arch. I got my first sighting of Angela just before half way – she had seen me going through the start but I’d missed her as I was seting my watch. I was still going at a good comfortable pace averaging 12:23 pace for the first 6.5 miles (target was 13min/mile pace). I knew I wouldn’t keep that up for the rest of the race but I was still felling OK for now. In the park the crowds were bigger as it was easy for them to follow the runners, sometimes just turning round while the runners did a 2 mile loop. There were several good bands playing at various points and we past several of them twice, everything had a quality feel about it.
Miles 8-12
I saw Angela again at about 8.5m and I was still running well heading back towards Hyde Park Corner where we did a sharp left to the 9mile mark. It was here I started to struggle, and between 9 and 10 it was a real effort as I hit the wall on a long uphill drag. I realised I hadn’t started my second energy gel yet squirted half of that in. By 10m things started to look up a bit and when I ran, I ran well but the brief stopped where getting more frequent, especially when there was any upward slope (there are no real hills on this course). Just after 10 miles I went past the hotel and it was briefly temping to stop. I carried on in this run/walk vain until the 12mile point where I managed to get running little better and it was slightly downhill which helped.
Last stretch
The last section takes you past the Albert Memorial and the Albert Hall, the slight incline here made me walk again but gradually as the end became visible I managed a bit more speed and gradually increased it trying to get that 2 hour 50 time target time. On Fetch Everyone (a running log site I use) 3 people had bet on me to do 2:50 and when I was so close I couldn’t help but really go for it. So there it was 2hours 50miutes 14 seconds – 19minutes and 50 seconds faster than the Great North Run! (and only 9699 runners ahead of me ;-)
After the race.
The baggage tent was a long way from the finish and with nothing given at the finish to keep you warm then I did start to get a little chilly. Got the bag and put the track suit on then finally sat down for a bit. Did a few easy stretches until wifey found me. We had a look round some of food festival and the sponsors tent s - spent too much at the Mizuno stand (but it was ‘cheap’ ) then gently meandered are way back to the hotel to pick up the bags and return home.
A great weekend and certainly a race to do again.
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