British 10km

I was really excited about taking part in this year's British 10km for lots of reasons. The last few weeks have been a hugely significant time in my life with a transition from a student to a doctor, preparing to move outside of london for 2 years and feeling like I might actually be a runner.

Me and the boy decided to take part in the 10km to mark these events and raise money for London's Air Ambulance, a charity I believe in whole heartedly, with doctors who have massively influenced my career. One of the best things about the British 10km is that they charge charities the same prices as the public for race places, which is great (compared to several other well known races.....)

All the pre race organisation was done through London's Air Ambulance and our race packs complete with charity running tops arrived in good time for the race, complete with a full booklet on how the race day was organised. Impressed so far

To be honest I was feeling rather cocky about this race, having ran just under 10 miles as part of my run to the beat training the week before.

Race day arrived, and it was a fairly early start, especially as I hadn't done a day time run before (wasn't sure when to eat etc) but the excitement built as we spotted other runners on the tube on the way to the start, all chatty away to each other.

Having heard about "bag drops" and invisaging chaos, I was pleasantly surprised but the number of volunteers, ushers and bag drop helpers, making things all rather smooth sailing. There were two bag drops, one for charities and one for individuals. There were also a lot of porter loos with short queues. 

We then make the walk up to the start, a good 20 mins but passed Buckingham Palace and the like in the morning sun

The start line was on Picadilly and we were lined up around both sides of the road to manage the 28000 people doing the race. From where we were we could actually here the PA system and KAtrina and the waves getting the crowd going, we were mostly just overheating in the 28 degree heat! However we did find another London air ambulance runner which was nice! 

The race started about 15 mins late and the start was staggered which was really good. Once we got going the route was great as well as the atmosphere but the heat was just unbearable! No breeze just a reall intense heat which felt like it was radiating off the road. At 3km we were down on embankment, still no breeze but the first of the water stations (I think there were 4) and London air ambulance supporters cheering us on. At 5/6km there were a few underpasses which were great for a bit of rest bite from the sun.

My favourite part was the photo below coming back over westminister bridge towards Big Ben. 

I couldn't get to the finish quick enough (although quick is something I definately was not!) it was so hot, I was constantly thirsty and just generally unhappy in this run!

We finally made it in a slow time of 1:15 with a short break to help a partially sighted chap who had fallen over. The medals were great! And organised well so you picked up from the bag drop to keep things moving at the finish line! The Gatorade was a welcome treat, I really hadn't timed Pre race fueling well, with just a smoothie for breakfast.

Overall a fab race, well organised and terrific to raise money (a first time run raising money for us) just don't ask me to run in that kinda heat again!!!