A while back parkrun had race entries for this race that were far reduced from the advertised price, so I signed up through that way. Lots of the OH ladies had also signed up so it was going to be a lovely social event.
The night before the rain was hammering down, we had thunder and lightening, and I was really dreading it. I’d packed a complete change of clothes for the bag drop bag (you are given a clear plastic bag to use for the bag drop), but I knew there would be a lot of standing around first and didn’t want to be soaked before I even started. The pre event info even mentioned that if there was lightning, to keep moving and not to shelter under trees and something along the lines of “you will be used to being outside in all weathers for your training anyway”…
Andy dropped me off at the station rather than me running there as I didn’t want to get wet that early on, and I met some other club mates at the station. Thankfully by the time we came out of the tube station at Green Park, the rain had stopped. The bag drop was well organised- you had to stick your race number to it and they were putting them in order, which meant it was quick to collect at the end too.
Some of the OH ladies before the start (more kept on joining), in the start pen and then Nelson’s column.
I was in grey wave (number 4), so I was supposed to start running at 10:24 (very precise) and be in the start pen about 45 minutes before that. No-one else from the club was in my start pen, so I opted to drop back several pens so run with others rather than run alone. Of course time flies when you are chatting with others, and at least the rain held off, but we didn’t start running until close to 11am so it was a late start.
A few pics from the end/ with my medal
I ran with Anna, fellow OH lady and fellow Vegan Runner, so it was good to run together and chat (and then not chat so much later on when we were both struggling a bit more!). The route was good, starting by Buckingham Palace, going past Trafalgar Square and past Covent Garden before doubling back and heading back to the park. It was narrow though, and congested which I was surprised about as they seemed to be holding the pens back and really releasing people with big gaps between waves. There were people walking from the start which didn’t help too as it was trickier to overtake in some of the narrower places. It also got super humid- the sun even started to come out briefly and it was so warm. They did have a few showers for the runners to cool off in, but I didn’t fancy getting wet feet so I ran on the other side of the street for those parts. I did enjoy seeing the “just a parkrun to go” signs just before the 5k mark! I was not impressed with the water stations though- they had plastic bottles (a water company was sponsoring them) and most runners were taking a bottle, having one or two sips and then throwing it away. Maybe they will be recycled? But we all know reducing is better than recycling, and it just struck me as behind the times as most races seem to do paper cups where at least there is far less single use plastic. The entertainment was good with a steel pan band (classic), a drumming group and a brass band to name a few.
I was not running for time- we had estimated around an hour and in the end my time was 1:01:51 so I was pretty pleased with that.
The lovely Anna bought her photos and kindly sent them to me so here we are heading to the finish!
At the finish line you were given some water, we walked a bit further to get our medals and then you were directed right to get t-shirts or left if you didn’t ask for one. I opted for trees not tees so my number had “NO TSHIRT” in big writing on the front, which made me laugh each time I saw it. The t-shirts seemed good- you could choose your size and fit (eg M- loose fit, or M- fitted), but there was a spelling mistake (Vitalty not Vitality!)- not sure how that passed the proof reading?
Once we finished we met up with a few OH ladies in the finish area, more by the bag drop, and then more a little further into the event village. We had taken photos together at the start as people were doing different things after- I was planning on heading to Upper Street and so we knew we would not all manage to meet up after as well. We took a few photos together but then I saw Danny from With Me Now pod, so I started chatting to him- a short chat turned into a long chat about parkrun (as it does) and by the time I had finished most people had started to head home.
Post race drinks and food- tea from Pret (then I changed in their toilets), the most amazing pistachio pastry and more tea, then a PSL from Bird and Blend
Thankfully I’d packed a Clif bar in my bag as you were given no food at the finish (they did say this in the event guide but it was still not great), but I was still thirsty so I popped into the Pret to get a tea, and while in there changed my top in the toilets. I didn’t need to change my whole outfit in the end as it still wasn’t raining. I then got the tube to Highbury and Islington and walked along Upper Street to British Patagonia where I enjoyed a pot of tea and the most amazing pistachio pastry. It was heavenly. Then I popped to Bird and Blend to get an iced pumpkin tea latte for the walk back to the station, to get the train home. One thing I wished I’d done was bring a proper rucksack though- I just had the bag drop bag which was a huge plastic bag with drawstring straps- I could have fitted an actual rucksack inside it and then worn that once I’d finished. I was a bit fed up of lugging the bag around by that point as I could not easily wear it on my shoulders.
So, all in all, a really enjoyable race made even better by all the OH ladies being there. I don’t think I’d pay full price as it is very expensive for a 10k, but if parkrun do the reduced entry cost again then I’d be tempted as it was a good route. I do prefer the smaller races where you turn up and run as opposed to the bigger ones where you wait around for ages, and I’m not keen on big crowds so this type of race isn’t my usual.
Have you done this race before? What sort of races do you like?