Sunday 19th September – that was the date of my first go at the Great North Run. I’ve run a few half marathons before, so normally I could be confident I would easily finish the distance. But this time I had had a bit of a bug during the week, so I felt a bit more tentative than usual before the race. Although the fact I was doing it with my brother and his girlfriend certainly helped.
The race starts in Newcastle. With official race starters Ant and Dec (can never remember which is which), it took over 25 mins for us to get to the start line! That’s because approx 50,000 runners take part. Which makes it the biggest race in the world. It certainly adds to the occasion and I loved the start of the race, especially running over the Tyne Bridge.
In the end it took me 2 hours 40 mins to finish. Which involved a lot of walking. I ran the first 5 miles and then, for the remaining 8 miles, walked and run in equal amounts. I really liked the finish in South Shields as well. Despite it absolutely chucking it down – not the best when you run wearing glasses.
That’s another half marathon ticked off my list. Next time I do one, I’ll be aiming to finish in under 2 hours.
