Great Manchester Run – The big day…
It was strange getting on a packed Sunday morning train full of people in shorts, vests and lycra. We (unwisely) sat opposite a 6’8″ fellow runner, who apparently was almost on Gladiatiors 16 years ago. With me being 6’4″, there wasn’t much leg room.
Arrived in Manchester around 10.15, navigating through the huge crowds to our starting position. Following a mass warm-up session instructed by a random guy on a cherry picker, and a performance by a singer nobody had heard of, we set off shortly after 11.20.
As planned, I ran at a leisurely pace with my girlfriend for the first 4km or so. The weather had been chilly, then the sun came out and all felt good. All apart from one thing – I drank too much pre-race water, so had to stop for a toilet break. Didn’t fancy the bushes, so added a minute or two to my time waiting for the porta-loos. Damn queues!
Upped the pace slightly around 5k as I passed the first DJ stage. Kept this up for a bit before cooling off in the runners’ showers.
I hardly spotted any distance markers throughout the course which threw me a bit – was unsure how to pace myself. Hadn’t been keeping track of time either. The general plan was to conserve energy for the first half of the run, then speed up for the remainder. Before I knew it, I spotted an 8km marker so tried picking up the pace, weaving in and out of the crowds past a bongo band, ending with a 400m sprint to the finish line. Stupidly, I forgot to check my time on the big clock.
Didn’t feel particularly out of breath and recovered fairly quickly. Picked up my finisher’s pack of goodies, then met up with our enthusiastic supporters for a post-race meal. All in all, today was a good day. Nice to see the city from a different viewpoint. There was a nice sense of community too, and lots of strangers cheering you on.
Checked the race results online at home, and have to say I’m a bit disappointed with my finishing time (01:00:58). Really wanted to finish in at least under an hour. I was being (in hindsight, overly) cautious with the pace, as to avoid struggling towards the end, but could’ve pushed myself so much more. And not filled my body up with so much water. Ah well.
Anyway, big thanks to everyone who wished good luck and sponsored us, it’s very much appreciated. If you haven’t sponsored us and are feeling generous, you still can. Also very well done to my girlfriend, who finished with a very respectable time of 01:03:32. She has put in loads of effort over the past few months.
Not quite sure what to do with this blog now! Still plan to continue running, so will probably continue to write boring tales of sore feet and abusive fat kids in cars. May even aim to do another 10k!
Medal
Goodies
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Time: 01:00:58 (5k time 00:34:07)
Distance: 10km
Pace: 9.84 km/hr
Overall position: 16230 out of approx 36000
Age group position: 8809
Gender position: 11608
Age group & gender position: 6165
