This is the first time that it has taken me a couple of days to write and post a race report. This is due to two things: firstly due to the massive congestion exiting the event which meant it was really late by the time we got back to Lincoln, and secondly, I wanted a couple of days to reflect on the day before I started typing.
I had been struggling in the weeks following Antwerp with knee pain, and doubted at that point if I would be able to rock up fit enough to the start line of the GNR. However, week by week, steady progress had been made and although things are not sorted 100%, I was able to complete two 8.5milers and an 11.5 mile run in the two weeks before. So not what I would call Antwerp fit, but able to complete 13.1 miles at a steady pace if I was sensible.
Race day itself started with a 4.45am alarm call (Black Sabbath's Ironman) and away in the car at 6am in the wet. The route was not overly complicated being mostly A1 and we arrived with no fuss into the centre of Newastle by 8.45 and managed to park near to St James' Park football stadium for only £1 for the whole day - bobsyfandango !!
From our handy little car parking spot the start area is about a mile away, so it was a slow steady walk to try and eat up some time. The start area on Claremont Street really is a sight to see as it stretches back a good kilometre and was full of people, as well as a line of yellow buses which were used to collect baggage, as far as the eye could see. I think it was the busiest place that I had ever been in my life and I think that it was then that the full scale of the event really hit home. I stretched, I stretched some more, jogged for a bit, went to the toilet, stretched some more and then decided that I could not kill any more time and then made my way to my start pen like a good competitor a good twenty minutes before the pens closed. These pens were rammed with people and I had to chuckle when the warm up guy was going through his routine whilst 40-odd thousand people attempted to do the same in a squashed cramped fashion.
The elite women were announced and were sent on their way first, and then the elite men with the largest cheer of the day going to Mr. Gebrselassie, the distance legend who had turned up for his third race against me. Ant and Dec were todays celebrity starters (thank f**k it wasn't Sting) and they got us underway pretty much bang on time - it then took a good further 20 mins for my wave to get past the starting line. Once I had gotten going finally, I tried to keep a sensible pace on my Garmin and also tried not to get pulled into zig zagging around people too much. the plan was too run the first half of the race and a steady pace and hope that in the second half I had some mojo left in the tank to finish at a good pace. The first mile went very smoothly and I loved the 'oggy oggy' chants as we passed under the bridges - truly memorable ! I passed the first mile in about 9.30 and realised that I was getting pulled along by everybody else and of course the occasion. Again, I focused on trying to bring the pace down a touch in the second mile and again tried to calm it down and take in the surroundings which I tried to do going over the famous Tyne Bridge( see phot at the top). At the end of the second mile the pace dropped sensibly and I was able to get into my running.
Just after the two mile mark I passed a chap carrying a fridge on his back ! A fridge ! For 13.1 miles - now thats hardcore. At the 5km mark the clock showed just past 30mins, which would be a bloody fast HM if I could keep going as I was. Truth be told though, the first few miles are slightly downhill and I found this out with a bang as at about 3.5miles there is a slight incline for a good two miles on this course and this is where the legs start to feel tired. You are also out of the city and running mostly on dual carriageways, which touch on a few estates where the locals were doing their best to be very supportive of the runners. I got to 6.2 miles in about 1.01 and normally the race would have strung out a bit, but no not this one - we were still congested at this point.
At about 8 miles something really strange happened - I had a complete loss of power in my legs and the speed just disappeared. This was to be my slowest mile by far and when I reached the water station at 9 miles I walked through it and drank the whole bottle of water which seemed to do the trick. I found a comfortable pace at this point and tried to work on 11 minute miles for the last four miles in an effort to gain an all HM (including triathlon) personal best time of 2.12. However, the legs did go again a bit and I walked the water station at mile 12 just to get the water on board, and this left me just too much too do in the last mile along South Shields seafront and I missed out by 30 seconds or so. I was disappointed, but on reflection, I could not have run any harder or faster on the day, I was just not fit enough race day to grab that PB. I crossed the line and gladly took posession of my finishers medal and commemorative t-shirt which actually fits me - yay !!!
Good things about the GNR - well organised, great atmosphere, large screens at the start, some of the supporters were excellent, great goody bag.
Bad points about the GNR - very congested, zig zagging is no fun for 13 miles, other competitors lying about how fast they would be, chav supporters squirting water, 1.5 hour queue for the metro to get back to the car at Newcastle.
2.14.18 then for my second standalone half marathon, and three minutes quicker than my first in Coventry last year.
Coming up.. I'm going to have a few weeks off and will be getting married. I will rehab the knee and start some light run training in early November. I've entered an Aquathlon on 21st November , and then a couple of 10k's in December to finish the year off and to give me a running start to 2011.
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