I have been trying to get a place in this race for about 5 years. Every year I apply with the positive mind set, that surely this year will be my lucky year, but year after year I get that "sorry you have been unsuccessful" email. I came to realise that the only way I am going to get my hands on that iconic medal, was to go via a charity. Obviously there was only one charity I could do it for, SENSE. I was delighted when they offered me a place. I think I would feel like I was cheating on a boyfriend if I wore any other vest.
I thought I had planned with enough time to get to the race village, put my bag in the drop off and have time to get prepared to start. I got there and it was so busy. The toilet queues where the worst I have ever seen, there was no way I had time to stand and wait, and I was desperate to go! I just went straight over to drop my bag off. It is usually a simple task, but not today. This also had queues as bad as the toilets. It all looked so organised but really it was a bit of a shambles. This meant I had to time to do anything after I dropped my bag off. I had to go straight to the start line. There were loo's on the way, but all had such long queues. I just had to wait and go during the race.
The start line serious lacked atmosphere. I was really disappointed. I wondered what all the fuss was about with this race. I compare everything to the Great North Run, because from start to finish that is an incredible half marathon and this was nowhere near as good, and I hadn't even started yet. I had quite a bit of time before my wave got going, but eventually we got going, and the weather had turned out beautiful. The race started off running through Hyde Park, then passed Buckingham Palace and then down the Mall. I was starting to enjoy it, but the desperate need for the toilet was giving me really bad stomach pain. The first set of toilets, once again had a huge queue. I didn't want to waste too much time, so I kept saying I will just wait till the next ones. I didn't get to go until mile 7!!
The race wasn't very well supported, which surprised me. Especially round Trafalgar Square and The Strand, but when the race came back into Hyde Park, the atmosphere of the race changed dramatically. It was packed with supporters. There was so many charities, so many banners and balloons of all colours. It looked great, and then I ran passed Sense. I was finally feeling the race. The rest of the course ran through the Park, and the Royal Parks. It was lovely and very much flat. It wasn't a challenging course at all. Soon enough I finished the race. I was happy for it to be over to be honest. I am happy that I was given the opportunity to run it, but I don't think I would do it again. I have ticked it off and I have the medal. I am happy enough with that, and I can't thank Sense enough for letting me do it.
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