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.