Sunderland HM race report.

[ChrisAllen1]

After a build up that seemed to have lasted forever it was finally here.

Sunderland is only 20 minutes down the road from me and race start wasn't until 10.25 but as usual on race day I was up early to sit, chill and have a couple of strong coffees.

Looking out to the now almost completed garden the weather looked spot on, sunny, light wind but not to warm.

I set off about an hour and a half before the start and after a bit of an adventure found the event parking and wandered down to Keel Square, newly pedestrianed and a pleasant spot in the centre of Sunderland.

Loads of people milling around, stalls selling food and drink, a warm up area with free exercise bikes etc made it look like a mini Great North Run. I bought a hot chocolate, watched the start of the 10k (which looked a good size field) and chatted to a guy who had breakfast with Kipchoge the morning after his London marathon win. He told me Kipchoge didn't want any praise and was more interested in talking about this guys running and training rather than the fact he has run the second fastest Marathon in history the day before. What a man.

At about 10.10 we were all called to assemble, as always difficult to judge numbers but it seemed to be a couple of thousand.

With not a cloud in the sky we set off, with the first 12k or so a series of circuits around the city centre. I settled into a pretty good rhythm and the course was fairly flat. Reached 10k in 1 hour 6 minutes and was feeling pretty good, settled in down the field but jogging along nicely.

After our last circuit we headed back through the city centre and over the main bridge (for any that don't know it's a smaller version of the Tyne bridge). At this point the usual happened as my legs started to get very heavy. The last section of the race follwed the river Wear, through the newly renovated marina area, a brief section up the coast then heading home, back over the bridge and a small downhill section to the finish.

In the end with the tough finish I just missed 2 hours 30 again and if I am going to continue doing regular HMs I need to work on the last 3rd.

Still a brilliant event in perfect conditions, surprisingly scenic, encouraging crowds and marshalls and well organised. Would definitely recommend this one.

Bling photo to follow.

Run happy, run safe.

[Wimborne]

That’s so spooky!!! I was literally just thinking about you and the HM and then your post popped up. Huge Congrats Chris 👏👏👏🥳🥳. And wow what a huge number of runners. Sounds a pretty amazing HM and it was a brilliant time Chris. God you can be hard on yourself 😀. Huge well done 👍 👍. I have so enjoyed reading your posts and training plan. You’ve done brilliantly. Here is my bow of respect and admiration 🙇‍♀️

[ChrisAllen1 Graduate10 in reply to Wimborne]

Ha, I know, I am happy with it and really enjoyed it. A brilliant event 👍

[Irishprincess Graduate10]

Well done to you! Sounds a fab day 🙂

[SaskAlliecat Graduate10]

Great job and some mighty fine bling to add to your collection 😍

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate10]

Loving the 'regular HM's' Chris....Go you!

Great run and report... amazing stuff!😊xxx

[GoogleMe Graduate10]

Really enjoyed reading this. Sunderland seems to have featured very large in my life for the last few years and, politics and Greggs at every turn aside, I've developed a bit of a soft spot for it and know what you mean about 'surprisingly scenic'

Very interesting about Kipchoge too.

[ChrisAllen1 Graduate10 in reply to GoogleMe]

Ah, glad to hear you enjoyed reading it.

[Crawlhome Graduate10]

Great report Chris and it sounds like an amazing HM. Fantastic time too. How are the legs today?

[ChrisAllen1 Graduate10 in reply to Crawlhome]

Thank you, not to bad once I get moving!!!