The good, the bad and the ugly: Great North Run 2014 race review

Sunday was my 4^th attempt at the Bupa Great North Run. It's become the highlight of my race calendar and it's also a really good benchmark for my training progress, as it's the race I've run most regularly. This year, as part of Operation sub 4hr Marathon, I was aiming for a new half marathon PB of 1 hour 55 minutes.

My highlights were:

The Race – as ever, the GNR is not just a half marathon, it’s an occasion. As well as being a major charity fundraising event, it’s also a significant local event, and is definitely the highlight of Felling's social calendar. This ensures that there is a massive amount of support all the way round, in any weather.  You get the traditional support points (Elvis in a bus stop, anyone?) and, of course, the Red Arrows flypast. In fact, I love this bit so much I have decided I would like the Red Arrows to give me a fly past at all my half marathons. I'd pay a little bit extra if you can guarantee it, race organisers of the UK. Thank you very much in advance.

The costumes – there’s a lot of creativity and boldness in the Great North Run. If you’re running under 2 hours, you don’t get to see quite as many costumes as you do starting further back, but this year I spotted a massive Bagpuss, a male Wonder Woman, the Ugly Sisters, a St George riding a dragon and a group of men wearing nothing more than a pair of Toon Army budgie smugglers. But my favourite was the Tyne Bridge I saw while waiting to start. I only hope the cardboard structure didn’t collapse in the rain.
 

The start - I'd also like to add 'high fiving an Olympian' as a prerequisite to all my races. Ellie Simmonds last year, and now Christine Ohorugu - they are definitely a good luck charm. (Although the cricket fan in me is  secretly a bit disappointed I didn't get to high five Graeme Swann)

The weather – it didn’t rain before the start, and it didn’t rain all the way round, as forecast. And I only got hit by one gust of wind. Result.

My time – I did manage sub 1:55, by a single, beautiful, second. I used a pace band this year, which I've only ever used in marathons before, although I only remembered to look at it after mile 7. I started off fine, but found miles 2 & 3 a bit tough, then recovered and was able to keep going without any major setbacks. My pace was inconsistent, because I decided to just go with the race - some miles were difficult to do fast, as there were so many people, others I ran well under 1:55 min pace. But I just thought it was easier to embrace an inconsistent pace than try and fight the conditions. Physically, I actually felt quite good except for those miles 2 and 3, and I could probably have even done it a few seconds faster, with fewer runners and more positive thinking. Overall the finish time, and how I felt afterwards, has given me a lot of confidence in my marathon training and the progress  I've made in terms of speed.

But it wasn't all good:

My pre-race dinner –I disastrously went to a different restaurant this year before the race. I couldn't face spaghetti Bolognese again so instead of boring old pasta, I ordered steak and chips, which worked brilliantly for me pre GNR 2012, where I scored my first sub 2 hour half marathon. However, the chips were greasy and oily and I couldn’t eat them, so just managed a bit of meat and a mushroom. I'd also ordered bruschetta for starter but the bread was soggy and undertoasted so couldn't face that either. I spent the rest of the evening worrying about my carb intake.

My negative thoughts – I really, really, need to work on my inner voice. According to my pace band, I went out about 20 seconds too fast on the first mile. I panicked, slowing down in miles 2 and 3, where I felt really sluggish. I then spent miles 4 and 5 berating myself for scuppering my time changes by going off too fast. I spent a lot of time telling myself I couldn’t do it, blaming the rain or my pre-race. By mile 8, I was alternating between a positive mile and a negative mile, which was pretty sapping. I know this does not make the task any easier but yet I still do it. Something I need to work on for York, where there are a lot more miles to fit negative thoughts into.

The weather – although not as bad as they’d forecast, it was still a soggy one. I didn’t get rained on until about mile 3 but, boy, did I get rained on. By mile 8, the water was squelching out of the vents in the top of my running shoes, and it was like running in a pair of wet sponges from there. There was a lot of puddles to avoid and weave past. Combined with the occasional severe gust of wind hitting my from the right, there were moments were I thought I might just get the bus to the end. 

Toilet queues - I know races can never have enough toilets but, really, the Great North Run is shocking for toilet queues. I got there at 8.40 and there was still a massive queue. Last year I queued for 55 minutes and I was determined not to do that again, so managed to get there earlier and reduce the wait to 15 minutes instead. But it's not ideal because then you're at the start for too long, on your feet. Not ideal for those who actually want to run the thing.

The congestion – this year there were more starters than ever before – 41000. And it showed out there on the course. In the previous 3 attempts at this race, I’ve never experienced anything like the congestion of this year. It was nearly as bad as the London marathon! It definitely makes it more of a challenge to get through and maintain a pace, and my splits are very random. The runners welfare bikes in mile 10 weren't much help either, weaving in and out of the runners and getting in the way. I’m not sure if it was so busy this year because there were more starters, or because I started in a faster pen. Perhaps it’s because of the chaos at the start pen this year, where some a-hole decided that because he couldn't be arsed to walk to the gate for white numbers, he would lift the crash barrier out of its base and let a massive group of people climb under it.
This made for a massive crush in our pen, a massive amount of tension and loads of arguments. Security took over 5 minutes to turn up and then they must have gone away again, as all of a sudden it started again. Once inside the pen, this guy continued to lift the barriers up for others to climb under. It felt really unsafe by the time we started and it got really ugly for a few moments. I don't think the Great North Run really needs to start on this sour note and the organisers really need to address this better next year, by ensuring that there is plenty of security on the first few pens, not just by the gates themselves.

I'll be back next year again, if they'll have me. Maybe next year I'll be aiming for sub 1:50!