#backtothestadium

Way back at the end of 2011 I entered a ballot for a race that billed itself as being a 'once in a lifetime event,' and was fortunate enough to get a place in the the The National Lottery Olympic Park Run.  The experience of running around the emerging Olympic Park with 5,500 other runners was amazing.  It did resemble a building site in some areas, but it was a hustling, bustling building site that was full of promise.

A few months ago I got an email or saw a Facebook status (I can't remember which!) that advertised the National Lottery Anniversary Olympic Park Run.  A similar run, 5 miles, finishing in the stadium, to celebrate the anniversary of the start of the 2012 Olympic Games.  This time it wasn't a ballot for places, this time there were 10,000 places up for grabs on a first come first served basis with a price tag of £27 (compared to last year's entry price of £15).  That's quite a lot for a 5 mile race, but the experience from last March was so amazing that I signed up and got Husbando to sign up too - he'd not managed to get a ballot place last year.

We travelled up on the train, when we boarded at Woking we joined a throng of runners that I know and a party atmosphere ensued!

This year, of course, we knew what the stadium would be like, there wasn't the novelty factor that we had experienced last time when we first walked into the stadium.  We had 'been there, done that and bought several souvenir t-shirts' over the course of several visits to the Olympics ask Paralympics.  It was a shock to see how much has been dismantled as we walked to the stadium.  The airport style x-ray security machines were gone and, despite dire warnings to arrive 2 hours before the start of the race, we got through security pretty quickly.   The stadium itself was as imposing as ever, the aquatics centre was still there, but with loads of scaffolding, the Orbit was in place but with a huge pile of rubble in front of it.   The boys were most disappointed to dissever that the MacDonalds had vanished!

We settled the boys in their seats and Husando and I made our way to the start.  After a week or two of really hot weather it was overcast this morning.  We waited at the start area, half heartedly took part, along with 12,500 other runners (2,500 extra places had been released as a ballot) in a mass warm up, and after a short delay Sir Chris Hoy sounded the claxon and there first wave set out.   We were in the second wave, so we had to wait a little longer - watching the big screen to see if we could spot people we knew!  We saw several people stop just after the start, mobile 'phones at the ready to grab a photo of themselves with Sir Chris!

Soon it was our turn to cross the line.  I was raring to go.  The early stages of the route were very narrow with lots of twists and turns, so there was little chance to get into a good pace.  We ran on every kind of surface: tarmac, grass, sand, gravel!  There were lots of runners wearing headphones who seemed to have absolutely no awareness of what was going on around them.  As soon as we started to run we realised that it was actually still rather warm!

It was an odd run.  Constantly looking for space to run into, wondering where Husbando was - we were running together, but it was hard to keep track of him as most people were wearing their blue t-shirts, keeping one eye on the uneven surface underfoot while trying to work out where we were in the park and what had been demolished!  We crossed the first mile marker in 8mins 31 secs - so at that point we mentally kissed a PB goodbye.  We just couldn't get a good run of speed, so thought we would just enjoy ourselves.

At three miles we were on an out and back section and we saw a dinosaur running back towards us.  Husbando decided that he was going to 'take the dinosaur.'  I thought this was ambitious, but hey - at this point I was just about hanging on, going through a mid race lull with a foot that was giving me a bit of bother (my 'good' foot which was worrying!)  As we got to the 4 mile marker the 'Asthma dinosaur' was in our sights and we passed him very soon afterwards.  How he managed to run in that costume in today's heat is beyond me - it was hot enough running in a tshirt!  

The end was now, if not in sight, but within contemplation.  I picked up the pace.  I kept thinking that Husbando was ahead of me so speeding up, when actually he was behind me!  The tunnel into the stadium was a sweaty sauna - music blaring out and a 'last lap' bell ringing as we approached the track.

And here we were, back on that track.  Husbando said 'Let's run on the outside so the boys can see us and get photos.'  I was doing some running maths (always a bit dodgy) and figured that there was, miraculously, a chance that I could better my time from last year, so wanted to run on the inside.  I compromised and ran in the middle while Husbando ran nearer the outside.   We'd talked about crossing the line hand in hand, but when Husbando took my hand about 60m from the finish I am ashamed to say I shook him off.  There were vital seconds at stake and I couldn't run holding hands - I said 'Too soon!' and fully intended to grab his hand again as we crossed the line.  I didn't quite manage it, but we did cross the line together.  And I did get a PB!  By five whole seconds!

Paula Radcliffe was still at the finish line, shaking hands and signing autographs, there were also paralympians forming a sort of honour guard that we passed through on our way out of the stadium.  A nice, chunky medal and a goody bag were very welcome, as was the breeze when we left the stadium!

Photos will follow soon.  We had to dash back, have a quick shower and change before going down to Cowdray Park to watch the finals of the polo!  What a day!  The team we were supporting won, lots of champagne was consumed and a jolly good time was had by all!

Olympic Park Run

What a day!  Up early this morning to take Number One Son to the drop off point for his DofE practise expedition, and then back up the A3 to pick up a friend and catch the train to London.  I have to admit that I probably drank rather more than I should have done on Friday evening, a combination of extreme tiredness and euphoria at surviving another term lowered my resistance to temptation and, it being a wee while since I have had a drink I think I felt the effects a bit more than usual.  I was a little tired and emotional this morning, not actually hungover, but very tired!

A lovely late breakfast at Balans seemed to improve my mood, and we headed to the stadium.  The queue to get through security was very long, but moved quickly and we were soon in the Olympic Park with thousands of other runners and spectators.  I couldn't quite believe it.  

 

The Stadium itself was impressive, but not as pretty as the Beijing Olympic Stadium.  I think it suffers from the cloudy backdrop and would probably look better with a clear blue sky behind it!  And the Orbit Tower is very strange!  A sort of giant helter-skelter!  

 As we walked into the stadium I suddenly started to get really excited!  We found great seats for Husbando and my friend in a position where I could easily spot them as I ran through the stadium.  I couldn't believe I'd actually be running on that  track!  Then the nerves struck.  Regular readers will know that I haven't had the best couple of weeks with respect to running.  This is the first race I have ever started without being absolutely confident that I could actually run for the whole distance. 

I sat and watched the entertainment for a while, trying to calm myself down, but eventually decided that I needed to get myself away and made my way to the start line.  Via the loos of course!  Whoever planned the Olympic Stadium definitely got the loos right, there are far more ladies' loos than men's loos.  There were no queues for the ladies' which was a refreshing change. 

The start was a sea of red shirts, with virtually all runners wearing the race tshirts.  I was in the second starting wave, so had a long wait at the start.  The race was started at 2pm by Princess Beatrice, but our wave didn't go off until 12 minutes later.  Princess B sounded the starting horn for our wave then ran down from the podium to run the race.  The race was congested at the start and, to be honest, the field never really thinned out, it was so strange to be running with everyone else wearing the same thing - that hasn't happened since PE lessons at school!   It was very, very cool to run around the park.  And a great relief to be moving so that I could warm up a bit! 

Some of the Park was still under construction, but we ran past all the various arenas, including running right around the mirrored outside of the Velodrome - possibly my favourite of all the buildings.  It was surprisingly hilly, with quite a few hairpin turns to negotiate.  I set off at what I thought was a gentle pace, taking it easy as I wasn't sure how my knee was going to cope.  It hurt, but adrenaline was keeping me going.  I didn't want to run the race without seeing the sights and enjoying the atmosphere.  Because all the spectators were being entertained in the stadium there was very little support on the course, a couple of African drum bands and bemused looking builders was about all!  I did wonder why they didn't think of positioning speakers around the route to relay the events inside the stadium.  

The mile markers were way off!  I thought this might mean that the fifth 'mile' would be very short, but I suspect that this was quite a long five miles!  The strange positioning of the markers meant that as we approached the stadium I thought that I was almost there, but no!  If you look at the photo below you'll see that it appears that I ran directly across the stadium before running around the track.  In reality we ran through a tunnel underneath all the stands, then into the stadium as 'Chariots of Fire' was playing (I was tempted to run in slow motion!) 

The crowds cheered enthusiastically and the track was beautiful to run on.  At 200m to go I looked up and saw Husbando and my friend waving and snapping away with cameras.  I waved!  Who wouldn't?  I realised that I really wasn't tired at all, I felt great, albeit great with very sore knees!  Crossing that finish line was amazing, my watch said I'd done it in 41min 32secs which was far better than I'd hoped for at the start of the day.  My Garmin took the distance to be 5.1 miles, and watches of those around me said anything between 5.1 and 5.3 miles (depending I suppose on how they accounted for the indoor time).  Those distances would give me a 5 mile time ranging between 39min 10secs and 40mins 40secs, which is where I shall be aiming for if I run this distance again!

 Medals and goody bags were handed out, timing chips were collected and runners were funnelled back to meet with their supporters.   The organisation of this event was fantastic!  Such a shame that this event is a one off as I'd sign up to run it again in a flash.

We made a hasty exit from the Olympic Park after I'd finished as West Ham were playing Reading at home, we didn't want to get caught up in the mass exodus and resultant Tube chaos, that would have taken the gilt of the gingerbread of what was a really brilliant day out!

I think 5 miles is a fantastic distance to race over.  Long enough to get into your stride, short enough (in future, when my knees are better) to really give it some welly.  It is the sort of distance that you can run hard without feeling totally wrecked for the next day!  I'll be looking for more 5 mile races in the future.