Phew! What a scorcher!

I had been in two minds as to whether I should turn up for the British 10k today. My hip is still sore, I haven't been running well or fast, and omigod the weather! When we left home at 5am it was already 18C and warming up fast!

My first mistake of the day was to eat breakfast at home before we left. One banana and a bowl of porridge, eaten at 4.30am, was a bit of a shock to my still sleepy stomach, and not enough to keep me going until 10.30am - especially with a 10k race thrown in for good measure! I got to the start line early, thankfully! The two pictures below show the views from where I stood, looking up and down Piccadilly. Thousands and thousands of people! The organisations was not great, it was a free for all at the start. Those of you who have had the misfortune to travel on the Tube in rush hour will have some appreciation of what it was like running in this, very crowded, race. Lots of hot, sweaty bodies in too close proximity to each other, and then we had to try to run!

I was glad that I went early and got to be near the front of the gaggle, I was hearing tales of people who had waited 30+ minutes to get over the line in previous years.

Kilometre markers were hard to see - I only managed to spot 2! They were low down, on one side of the road only so easy to miss through a sea of bodies. The going was slow - especially for me, I managed to get around in 55mins 7 secs which was a bit disappointing. The course measured slightly long, by my reckoning and others I spoke to, but it was very flat. I think the supporters were feeling the effects of the heat as they were very quiet for long stretches!

Not sure if I will do this one again - it was no where near as enjoyable as the Bupa 10,000m back in May!