Well that was a day of two halves 😆 I thought I'd been tricked into a triathlon, from running at the beginning to swimming at the end, was fully expecting someone to hand me a bike to complete the day!
I hope I don't waffle on for too long but what a day. We stayed in a hotel near the Metrocentre and the staff there were really helpful, from booking taxis for the morning, to providing fruit, water, porridge packs etc for those leaving earlier or not taking breakfast in the hotel. After listening to advice from you on the forum, other runners in the hotel, and staff who lived locally, we decided not to get the coach transfer but had a plan that we would try to park near the Moor, leaving a 15 min walk to the pens. Contingency plan was to throw me out into the street 😂 and the OH would either try to find a space or continue to South Shields. We managed to park where we'd been told there might be spaces and took a slow walk to the pens, arriving about 9.30am.
It was already very warm. I had learnt a valuable lesson at the Great Manchester 10K about hydration/fuelling that works for me. I thought I'd hydrated well for that run, but not well enough and I had a v unpleasant episode with mild heat exhaustion. Sometimes you find out the hard way what works for you and I wasn't making the same mistake again. I'd hydrated really well all week and started taking some Tailwind in as well at the end of the week as the forecast was clearly set for a very warm day.
We sheltered under the motorway bridge until about 10.40 and then the pens started to really fill up, the OH took his leave and I joined the wave properly. It took 1 hr 10 mins to get to the start line and it was baking hot. I found quite a few people to chat to, including a lovely group from the GirlsThatJeff FB page who had run GNR before and gave me great advice, so that helped pass the time. Lots of water being handed out as we moved along. I already had some from the hotel and started sipping more Tailwind (I'm not a Tailwind rep I promise!! 😂😂).
Finally across the start line! It was quite emotional actually as it had taken so long to get there, the crowds and the noise were amazing, and I just wanted to get on with it tbh lol. I tried to stick to my plan, just another training run, but occasionally had a giddy moment; watching the Red Arrows fly over, running over the Tyne Bridge, my pace showed exactly when those things happened as I got quicker 😍 Had a wobble after about 3 miles as I started to doubt myself in the heat, and sadly saw some runners pull up around this distance, but turned my music up, slowed up and plodded on. Really settled down after this, the crowds are just amazing! I high fived every child in Newcastle I think 😂 I'd taken my own snacks, but took extra water when available, drank some, put some over my neck, and took advantage of the hose pipes that the locals had set on us! Council workers had also tapped into the mains and were spraying water too.
It wasn't pleasant to see so many casualties being tended to, and I hope that all have now recovered 🥹
To be honest, the last mile was really, really tough but the sight of the sea as you come down the sharp hill and turn along the coast road is something else, and then saw my OH at the side of the road which gave me a boost 🥹 and then the finish line is there. Everything was starting to hurt by now lol so while I could still move, I went straight for my medal, t shirt and goodie bag. Found my OH, just finished my banana and then - it was like being in a sort of snow globe. Baking hot day, then someone shakes you upside down and plonks you in the sea 😂🏊♀️ biblical conditions, honestly never seen anything like it. Drenched in seconds, and wading through water about 6 inches deep to get to the charity village. And runners trying to get round in that!!! I take my hat off to anyone who was still out on that course during that thunderstorm. Apparently the water was too deep and fast flowing at the bottom of the hill before the coast road for running in, so they were diverted on to a verge above it and helped down.
We managed to get into the charity's tent and warm up. There was also a foil blanket in the goodie bag which was an absolute life saver for me as I'd got very cold. My OH had parked about 50 mins away so we had a slow, soggy plod through the rain to the car but even then, locals were shouting well done, people were checking others were ok. The drive home was mainly through thunderstorms and awful rain but eventually eased up. And we stopped at Wetherby for fish and chips. Best I've ever had 😂😂
My time was 2:57 which I was pleased with. Not a day, or a course I would say, for chasing time goals.
I'm so sorry for the length of this post, I should have serialised it 😯
