As you will have seen from my last blog post I have run GNR
4 times in the past and this was to be my 5th time. We travelled up
on Saturday after a fast spin out on the bike for me and a cheeky parkrun PB
for Sean, having been to the race a number of times before we decided to skip
the expo/ pasta party and our only aim was to get to Start Fitness for some new
trainers and possible new kit!
So after a brief stop for lunch, we arrived in Newcastle
dumped our bags and hurried out of the door to StartFittness three shopping bags
later with two pairs of new trainers, new bike helmet and a few other
essentials (honest) we headed off some pre-race day hydration via
Brewdog.
The lovely thing with it being race weekend is how many
people there are in the City, now to be fair I have never been in the City when
it isn't GNR weekend so that might be normal vibe, although perhaps race
weekend does mean that the number of people wearing GPs watches, trainers and
previous race t-shirts…. after sampling a couple of ciders and watching the
world go by it was back off to the hotel and chill out for the rest of the
evening.
To race morning, if you are stopping in the City Centre you
do get afforded a bit of a lie-in, as the walk to start is around 20 minutes,
and that is mainly because it is so congested with people. Having so many
people around this does help in terms of determining “which way to the start”
my advice would be to follow someone who is wearing at least two of the
following, you are going to find yourself at the start of the GNR:
- compression socks,
- clean bin bag,
- running shorts /tights
- technical t-shirt
- superhero costume,
- fruit fancy dress costume
- trainers
This start is a specular feat of organisation, this year
there were over 54,000 people taking part and I would imagine for most of us
trying to organise a party with around 20-40 people is enough to give you
palpitations, so taking on 54,000 is not for the faint-hearted!!
We found my starting pen easily enough (Zone C) and I joined
the nervous throngs of runners, some stretching, other biting their nails,
talking selfies and talking to friends. Next was the warm-up and then the
countdown and finally the claxon went off, as we edged forward at walking pace
Sean walked/jogged alongside the fence until I passed the start and then I was
off…..
Ooh look a portaloo with no queue!!! Quickly detour off and
pause Garmin…back running again. My main objective was to keep to around 8:45
mile pace and try not to head off to fast at the start which is downhill and
very easy to get swept along with all the excitement.
With a target time of sub 2 hours, my steady pace should get
me there, I the 1:50 pacer came up alongside me so it was decided to hang out
with him for the race. Which is pretty much how my race went, we yoyo-d a
bit in terms of being ahead of each other and my plan was to run in the middle
of the road that way it was easy to dash left or right if there was a need to
overtake or dodge someone randomly stopping!
My middle of the road strategy was good until there was
this realisation around mile 7 that I had missed all the ice pops, following a
quick correction and a detour to the left, there was an ice pop was in my hand
within minutes. Three ice pops later had the desired effect, my pace was
back, core temperature was down, legs and body were ready to tackle John Reed
Road around 10 miles in.
Before we knew it we were heading down to the seafront and
the long mile and a bit to the finish, at one point there was a little wobble
and it felt like someone had swapped my head on to a different body mid-race,
but just as quickly everything came back to me and the finish was looming
fast…throwing my hands in the air as I a crossed the finish line, which a chip
time of 1:53 which was will within the goal going in!
If you have never run this race, it is well worth the trip
up North at least once, the people of the North East come out in their
thousands to support this race, there is so much additional aid and support
give out to the runners; from ice pops, jelly babies, jelly bean, sweets,
oranges, beer to very much needed on this day sunscreen! You will never enter
a race where there are so many people willing you along the way offering
encouragement and support all the way so from me a very big THANK YOU.
Personally, there are so many other races I want to
run so I’ll leave it another couple of years before venturing and allow others
the opportunity to enjoy the amazing atmosphere and brilliant race.
Next is my triathlon on Sunday and the Bilbao night half
marathon in October!
