I’ve been pretty caught up with longer distances in the past few months, so my last proper 10k had been the RunThrough Brixton 10k back in January. I was looking forward to a nice, short race!
The day before I had lost my first toenail, which hadn’t quite managed to pull through after 2 marathons and one half marathon in 5 weeks. I’d also managed to lose my watch, so would have no idea how fast I was going. This would be a gentle, soak-up-the-atmosphere race for me.
COST
£28
PRE-RACE ORGANISATION
Entry was nice and simple online, with chips, numbers and info packs sent out well in advance. On arrival at Green Park, plenty of signage made it very clear where the race was!
TOILETS
Big queues for the toilets closest to the start, but there were plenty of portaloos about 2 mins away in the main runners’ area.
THE RACE
With no watch, this was very much a training run for me. I just decided to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy a nice jog on a bank holiday Monday.
The route was reasonably flat, with plenty of people out supporting. While I’d given myself a reasonable estimated time, it was still very congested along the route so I spent a lot of time darting and weaving. While I wasn’t exactly aiming for a PB without a watch, I definitely was running slowly than I would have liked.
That said, the atmosphere was great and the route was fun. It was very surreal (in a good way) to be running down the streets that are normally totally rammed, especially the parts that form my running route home from work.
Running down towards Buckingham Palace for the finish was pretty special, and served to make me more determined to run the London marathon one day…
But for me the most moving part of the race was around the halfway point, when I overtook paraplegic Claire Lomas, who was completing the race in a bionic suit. She had started the race at 5am, and was being applauded by all runners as they went past.
BLING/T-SHIRT/GOODY BAG
Nice race medal, featuring the race route on one side and ‘London 10,000’ on the other. Goody bag was decent, with various snacks and goodies.
T-shirt was a really nice Adidas shirt – but unfortunately they ran out of my size as I got there. One staff member said they had run out of that size then simply walked off, leaving a group of us standing there trying to find somebody else just to give us a goody bag. I often get a bit annoyed when t-shirts run out during big races, particularly when you have to state which size you want beforehand. It might not seem like a big deal, but I see the ‘reward’ as part of your entry fee, so it’s annoying when you can’t have it because of poor planning. When I was getting my goody bag, it was announced that 4,000 people were still running. I imagine quite a few of them would have been a little annoyed to find their size had gone – especially if it was their first big race.
OVERALL VERDICT
A great race if this is your first 10k, but not ideal for a PB. Well organised, great atmosphere, but the lack of t-shirts was disappointing.
excessively diverted 