OMG OMG GNR 2 more sleeps why oh why did i sign up for this, mini melt down last night.
Running for Marie Curie, can't and won't let anyone down, but i'm so nervous and really panic in crowds.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deep breath! If you haven't done so already, make a list of everything you'll need (we call it a 'faffage list' on here 😄), and put all your gear together ready.
On the day: Keep near the back of the crowd, and enjoy the atmosphere - have a little dance to the music, say hello to people nearby. Have fun with it, smile 😊😊😊 Start off super slow and don't worry about walking every now and then. A large part of nervousness is excitement!!!
Good luck and have fun - we're all rooting for you! xxx
thank you so much x
And.......relax......you’re going to be great, accept this as the ‘taper terrors’....up and down like a yo-yo, you’re being completely normal....🤪
Feel the fear and do it anyway, you’re going to be brilliant and you’re going to have a blast 👏💪🏃♀️
Bring home the bling!🏅
I’ve got a mate at work who’s doing it too....
Good luck! You’re brilliant! ⭐️
Mx
Perfectly normal to feel like this. If fact I would be more worried if your werent nervous.
I have done plenty of runs over the few years since I took up running and I still get the nerves beforehand. I still have that moment on the morning of each run where I ask myself 'Why do you do this to yourself?'
I have come to embrace it as all part of the build up. I accept it, get on with it and enjoy the run.
You’re going to be fine. Everybody is really friendly at races and the crowd at the start soon thins out once you get underway. Just take it a step at a time (says she who is stressing over Oxford Half next month 😂)
I’m excited for you Piglet! I bet once you arrive at the event and start soaking up the atmosphere you’ll be just fine. Yep, start off uber slowly, take time to get into your happy running place and enjoy yourself. 😀
You’ve just given me a burst of GSR butterflies and that’s over a month away! 🦋
Have fun! 👏👏👏
Piglet don't melt down! the GNR was my first half marathon, and I'm not going to lie, it's humungous, which is weird because none of my subsequent runs have ever come close in numbers! But please don't worry about that at all, I promise it's not daunting-more surreal than anything else. If I could go back in time to give myself some advice for that day I would say-as cliched as it sounds-just relax and don't think about finishing in any particular time. Don't think at all! Let it all wash over you. The crowds and other runners are all great, just smile and chat and enjoy the dreamlike quality of it all. On a practical level, leave a bit of time to get to the starting pens, because it takes a while and you'll find yourself stopping to look at all the fancy dress costumes and chat to people. Also, there are toilets in the Wetherspoons nearby which are much nicer than the portaloos!
It's a great experience, you won't let anyone down. How could you! You're doing a great thing. Even turning up is more than most! And try not to shed a tear when you get a red arrow flyover or go over the Tyne bridge! (I might have done both those things.)
good luck! - I'll be waiting to read the race report!
I'm sure the worries are worse than the race itself 
Best of luck. Newcastle is a fab city enjoy
Good luck on the day. I’m sure you will be fine once it starts. Slow and steady and enjoy the day.
So normal to be nervous - the excitement will definately take over on the day, I promise! Good luck🙂👍
Once you start running the nerves will settle. You know what running is so no "unknown" there to be nervous about - it will be you, the road and your run. All nice and familiar because the road will be just a surface like the roads you run now 
Fear of the unknown is a powerful emotion so in no way am I diminishing your viewpoint and feelings. However, it might be helpful for you to identify the "Gremlin" - and Gremlins are masters of disguise as we all know
I had a friend who was a Firefighter. And dealt with rather more than chimney fires on a regular basis. I got to one scene he was on and it looked horrific - the heat alone was frightening from a distance. Flames, smoke, structure groaning and creaking, water sizzling, stuff exploding and popping at random...and walking calmly around in it he and the others applying foam, clearing firepaths etc. Not if I'd been wearing two asbestos suits would I have even gone to the edge of it. Afterwards I commented on their bravery. And that's when I found out that while there are different types of "Brave" there is only one form of "fear"
Because the reply was,
"Funny thing is - I can walk into that - or worse - without a sweat but when I go to ask a lady out I totally freeze up and am petrified"
It's fear of the unknown outcome. He could somewhat make an "educated guess" at least about a fire scene and take a "calculated risk" but all the "What if's" couldn't be computed when asking someone for a date and if it went "wrong" the price would be his sense of pride - that he'd "made a fool" of himself.
And therein is the source of all fear - that we will be "shamed".
I have to deal with it myself - "What if I'm last?" What if I have to stop after only a short distance?" "Do I look stupid running with people who are so much fitter/faster/younger/whatever?"
And the Pride Gremlin goes on and on and on...until I remind myself that "What if" is a thought and not a fact.
You in your race, me in mine, all of us when we run in a race or aim for a time, or a distance, a PB or a Consolidation...we belong, we worked for it, we earned it and did what was in our control to gain it.
The rest is just "noise"
You are a Runner. You belong on that Start line. The run itself will go as it will - you will still be a Runner no matter how it goes, win or draw...no "lose" applicable since day one, week one
I'll be cheering for you
Thank you so much everyone for your support, means so much and I'm truly touched by your kind words and encouragment.
No super speedy runner, by any means Mo Farah definitely has nothing to worry about lol.
Ill check in Monday let yous know how run went xx
You’ll be fine! It’ll be great.
I’m running it for the first time too, and I’m not over-keen on crowds. I just plan to focus on myself until I’ve relaxed enough to start taking things in. I know for certain I’ll set a world record for ‘greatest number of anxiety fuelled insurance wees’ before we set off. Good luck!
Enhoy it. It will be amazing and so will you!
thank you everyone I DID IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please tell me I can take this? 🙏
My 5k PB whoop whoop. 
Chafing
A spot of pre-HM retail therapy!
The run from hills
