Running from Zombies

What a day! By mid-afternoon I was absolutely exhausted, and not from the running…

The day started early, with a cab booked for 8am to take us to Waterloo Place – what I assumed to be a 15 minute drive. Not only was the cab late but the driver didn’t seem to know what was going on, why the roads were closed, or where we wanted to go, resulting in a 45 minute drive around London before he dropped us off about a mile away from the baggage drop. Not a great start, but I managed to get there by 9am and joined the masses walking the 1.5kms to the start line. Unfortunately, the race organisers seemed to be under the impression that toilet to runner ratio should be about 1:2,000 (not an exageration) and joining the queue now was pointless. Moving on.

Eventually the walking slows and we all come to a standstill. It’s about 9.15am so we still have 20 minutes before the gun. Everyone seems to be in pairs or groups except for me, but I’m not too fussed because The Band of Her Majesty’s Life Guards are supposed to be performing the opening ceremony, which should make for a good distraction. I assume I was too far away because I could neither see nor hear them. No matter, I thought, I’m here for the running.

A little after 9.35am, there’s a stirring in the crowd and I can just make out the front of the queue moving back towards us on the other side of the road as the race starts. I see a bit of a blur going past at some ridiculous speed (which I later find out is Cyrus N’dereba) and there’s some renewed excitement as a slow shuffle forward starts for us slightly-less-elite :-) The clouds start to clear, the sun comes out and it starts to heat up. All good things.

The shuffle starts and stops, I start to get back ache (as I do when standing still or walking slowly for too long), my Garmin goes back into sleep mode, I start to wish I had both queued for the toilets and picked up a bottle of water. The winner is announced as Cyrus N’dereba with a time of 30’19″. More shuffling and eventually I get to the start line – the clock already reads 1 hour 3 minutes and I start off at a pace that should probably be frowned upon. I went way too fast for the first km – just glad I wasn’t shuffling anymore and desperate to get round some of the people that had pushed past me in the queue. My Garmin beeps for my first km split and I see I’ve done 5’24″, I’m still feeling good though and keep it up for just a bit longer. I pass the first km marker 70m later and start to wonder how accurate the course is, whether I’m adding meters by people dodging and wondering if it was worth it. People dodging becomes a necessity though as people slow down and start to walk.

I didn’t bother looking at the 2nd km split, or the 3rd, but I peered at the time at about half way through the 3rd km. 18 minutes, I was starting to feel it but deicded I could take it, and keep going. 1km later and I decided that taking a 100m walking break would help me keep up the same pace for a few more kms. I was also starting to get a bit dehydrated, the temperature had soared since we left the hotel and a fair few people were losing layers. I get to a water station just before the 5k mark – which had conveniently run out of water by the time we got there. Cups of Gatorade were still available though and I grabbed one as I ran past with the intention of not stopping – the people in front of me had other ideas. The Gatorade was sickly sweet and warm so I chucked it in the hope of picking up water at one of the other 2 water stations before the end…which had actually packed away and left by the time we got there. Never mind.

A few words of encouragement from spectators as we start to near Westminster Bridge. It was good to have spectators and people cheering this time around, and this is where mum said she would stand so I look out for her – but it seems she didn’t realise how late I started and had already gone to the finish line. My Garmin beeped for the 9th km and I started to pick up the pace again (having slowed down somewhat after the half way point). I passed the 9k marker 270m later, which put a bit of a downer on things, but I tried to keep it going. Eventually I round a corner and see the finish line. There was supposed to be a brass band playing on the bridge, which wasn’t there (probably left before we got there) and I was half hoping they had just relocated to the end. Unfortunately not, but that doesn’t matter – I still gave what I had left to make it over the line in 59’14″.

As I said in Monday’s post, the Garmin reckons I ran 10.3km, and judging by the search engine hits I’ve been getting along similar lines it would appear that the course was actually this long. Had I been running just 10k I would have shaved 1’36″ off my time – which would have been a new PB. Either way, I’m glad I stayed under the hour.

Long walk back to the baggage claim, where I picked up my bag and medal, then I walked over to St James’ Park to find mum – who had missed me yet again by thinking I had finished earlier than I had. It was a shame, but even with 27,000 runners I don’t think either of us expected me to be going over the line so late.

A frantic rush to get back to the hotel in time for me to shower before we checked out, lunch in a nearby Weatherspoons, and then a walk down to the river, where we sat in front of Tower Bridge for a while before making our way back to the station. I felt fine, apart from a sore back and toes (to be expected) and a general feeling of fatigue from not sleeping well during the week.

Despite the problems on the day, I’m glad I did it. I don’t think I’ll go in for an event a big as this one again, unless maybe it’s organised differently. Minor things all added up (difficult to read and innaccurate maps in the event pack, a race t-shirt that had to be ordered through the post and cost a ridiculous amount, lack of toilets, water stations and promised bands etc), but it was a good day out and running through the closed streets of central London was a great experience. At the end of the day, the whole thing was for charity and as of this morning my fundraising figure is at £560.05. So I’d like to thank everyone that has sponsored and supported me up to (and including on) the day.