Rock n Roll Liverpool half marathon

On Sunday was the inaugural Rock n Roll half marathon in Liverpool.

I have done a couple of Rock n Roll events in the past (Las Vegas & Edinburgh) and they are well organised and offer some of the best (and heaviest) finisher medals out there. Coupled with the fact this race was going to be in the city both my parents are from it was a must on my race calendar; even if it meant missing the next installment of the British Grand Prix races (the London 10km.)

I arrived in Liverpool the night before the race and followed a usual pattern of no alcohol, lots of pasta, bread and a fairly early night.

The race was both a half and full marathon and we were due to start at 8am. A very early start...especially when you take into account having breakfast, digesting and getting to the start line to warm up. So up at 6am I felt ready for the day and it was a beautiful morning weather wise. Down at the start line the atmosphere was heating up and we were soon getting into our "pens". I was in the first wave so was next to the two presenters who were doing a good job of warming the crowd up. The female presenter asked for a smile from a runner to which I obliged....leaving her to comment that she was lucky to get a smile from the man with the shortest shorts on. I hadn't really thought that mine were that short but looking round perhaps mine did show off a little more skin that what others were wearing. Oh well...shorts surely are meant to be short (clue in the name) and you have to offer something special to the viewing public :-)

Austin Healey (the Rugby player) was setup to fire the start gun and was stood just in front of us for a little photo shoot. Just before the countdown he took his own selfie on his phone with the crowd in the background and I successfully managed to photo bomb and make it onto the picture which he later on tweeted. Already a successful race then in my mind...especially as he was just on Tom Daley's "Splash" programme which means I am one step closer to a tweet from Mr. Daley himself....

We set off through the Albert Dock which is one of my favourite parts of Liverpool. The waterfront is really impressive and added with a dollop of nostalgia from my childhood visits to the city it was a great start to the race. The leaders already had pulled quite far ahead within a mile but what I also noticed was that the next person behind me was quite far away too which meant that I felt like I was in a scene from 28 days later (but set in Liverpool) as at this early time of the morning there were not too many supporters out too. It was nice to have the city to myself but it also meant I needed to concentrate on where I was running as I couldn't just follow the crowd. The risk of taking a wrong turn was high!

Coming out of the city and heading up to several parks which we were due to run through took us up some mighty hills which although didn't last too long felt pretty steep. Even in the park there were some tight turns and again some steep inclines so in my head I knew I wouldn't be getting a PB so was just concentrating on getting as good a time and position as I could.

Around 12km into the race I spotted one of my cousins on the sideline and she gave me a high five which revived me greatly for the second half! The Rock n Roll runs have many bands along the route but sadly as I was going past them the majority were not ready so it was lucky I had my own Rock (well pop actually) music to keep me company.

The last three miles or so is along the waterfront back towards the dock which was a great way to finish the race. The crowd was forming at the finish line already and finishing with the announcer shouting my name felt good. My result was:

Overall time: 1 hour 21 minutes 1 second

Place: 13th out of 3,485

So not a PB but a good position to finish in.

I spent the rest of the day refuelling on food as well as rum and ginger beer....perhaps that's why I didn't make it into the top ten. Maybe next year eh?!

I made my way back down south visiting my Mum on the way who tried on my medal and said she had been thinking about running the race too. That made me smile a lot and was a perfect round off to the race weekend.

A selfie with a rugby player at the start line...try and spot me:

Almost there for a high five from my cousin:

 Finished and in the Albert Dock....LOVE Liverpool:

Mum "considered" running the race too apparently!

Bristol 10km

Yesterday was the Bristol 10km.

The race is the second in the Grand Prix series that takes place in Britain in 2014 (Reading half marathon having been the first.)

Arriving in Bristol there were gale force winds which filled me with fear that I would end up having a race like the Great South Run last year (i.e. into a severe headwind and horrendous!) I checked into the hotel and was kindly given a room on one of the top floors and away from the lifts since there was an endless line of stag and hen groups checking in; hence the lady on reception was aware I may want a little more sleep than they would ahead of my race.

I relaxed for the afternoon ahead of a lovely night out with a school friend at a little Italian place so I could carb up in the usual fashion. There was a stag do in the restaurant too....clearly wedding season is soon upon us.

It was of course Eurovision night as well on Saturday night so as devastating as it was not to be at a party playing drinking games in time to the voting I was sensible and made my way to bed at a respectable 11pm (with the Eurovision voting as a background to help me to sleep.) I have made a promise to attend Eurovision in person next year so all is not lost.

Up in the morning the weather had drastically improved which was a relief. It was still pretty chilly and a few spits of rain but since the wind had died down I was pleased. I walked over to the start area and the crowd was already quite large. It seemed there were to be about 10k people running (appropriate for a 10km run) and so lining up in our pens again there was a lot of body heat to keep us warm before the gun went off. As this was part of the Grand Prix series there were quite a lot of elite runners whom I could see warming up in a pen next to the main ones. A few mins before the start they lined up in front of us and we were all off on our way.

This was the first race I had decided to run without music. I wanted to see what it was like since all the other front runners seem to do the same. A few miles in I was a little nervous at my decision as I didn't like being able to hear my breathing and wondered whether it would make the journey to the finish line endless. However; after about 2km I didn't really notice it any more and my breathing and strides seemed to be in a more regular pattern. I didn't regret not listening to music but I do think that for the longer half marathons I may re-introduce it purely for the entertainment factor along the way.

The course was pretty flat and took us through the gorge under the mighty Clifton suspension bridge which was a fantastic sight. As mentioned with there being a lot of elite and top club runners in the field I had a constant group around me so it never felt like I was running alone which has been the case in some other smaller events. It also acted as a good pacemaker for me as I had people to keep up with.

The kilometers were going by pretty quickly and just before the half way mark we made an about turn and were on our way back to the city center. The public braved the elements and lined the streets which was an added bonus to have a few cheers along the way plus I was able to actually fully hear them this time.

With only 600m to go I was desperate to get under 37 minutes for the run so pushed on as hard as I could. I crossed the line in 36 minutes 59 seconds. Mission accomplished by the skin of my teeth! I placed 120th out of the 10,000 strong field so I was pleased with that. Just after the finish line they were already interviewing the race winner (Scott Overall) who had finished in 30 minutes 20 seconds. Incidentally he had also won the Reading half marathon so his track record for the Grand Prix is looking good so far.

Post race I collected my bag and was starting the walk back to the hotel when someone stopped me and asked if I was an actual Team GB Olympian (since I was wearing the tracksuit.) Sadly I had to admit that I was indeed a fraud and head back home having given out no autographs.....

Medal picture:

An interview or two...

Very excited to post the below interview from a fellow runner's blog:

http://www.whohastheruns.com/2014/04/michael-l-has-runs.html

Weirdly the same week also had another interview about my work so thought would include it here too:

http://performancein.com/news/2014/04/28/senior-partner-marketing-manager-hotelscom-shares-insights/

City 15 done: Moscow

Last Sunday was the turn of Moscow in my Olympic Challenge and I took part in the 7km race.

Planning my trip to Moscow earlier in the year had turned out to be tainted with various political issues. Firstly the introduction of the laws preventing the promotion of homosexuality had naturally struck a chord with me but then with the current situation with Ukraine it seemed that things may not be that great over in Moscow.

However; I decided I still wanted to go and must say that somewhat weirdly had it not been for the media of both situations in the UK I would have been totally unaware of these topics when I was in Moscow.

I love the city as the architecture and setting of Red Square and the Kremlin is so spectacular. It is a massive place and from my previous trip I should have learnt that walking around is amazing to see the sights but my feet would be tired by the end of the day. Lesson not learnt and I did it again this time. I don't regret it though as the sights both overground and underground are amazing. The metro is without doubt the most splendid subterranean network I have had the pleasure to travel on.

The run itself was a small run that took place in a park about 20 minutes train ride from the center. I was the only non Russian taking part but the registration went smoothly and given that there was only about 2,000 people running in total it meant finding my way to the start was not going to be a challenge. Competitors could choose between two distances (7km or half marathon.) I had opted for the shorter one as it would allow time for more sightseeing and also to reach the half marathon meant doing a further two laps of the 7km race which I wasn't too keen on doing as it is pretty tough mentally to do races that consist of laps.

Gathering at the start area all looked in order. The organisers started to mark out the start pens (based on expected times) by putting up tape between the barriers. Good idea....apart from a truck then drove down the road straight through all the tape. Marvellous planning. Tape back up it was then time to start.

The race kicked off on time and I was at the front so was fairly easy to get a good pace early on. The route talk us around the park which was beautiful. It was a real contrast to the urban setting of Moscow city center. It was quite an undulating course with one hill in particular that I didn't envy the half marathoners having to do a further two times! I wasn't used to doing such a short distance and was quite surprised how quickly the kilometer markers were flying by. I also felt pretty smug thinking that at each marker they also displayed the distance covered for the second and third laps which I knew I wouldn't be doing and by the time most runners were going past them I would hopefully be showered and back out sightseeing!

There were some great local drum bands along the way (the race was subtitled Drum & Race) and in the final few hundred meters there was quite a crowd. Crossing the line was great and I finished in 4th place (out of 419 who were running that distance) with a time of 26 minutes on the nose. Not bad eh?!

So post run (and shower) it was time to explore the city's metro system which was amazing and some rooftop cocktails overlooking Red Square and the Kremlin.

Loved it and now that means that city number 15 is done. Only 8 more cities left to go of the challenge then!

On the way to the start...can you spot the only non Russian?!

Me at the finish line:

Until next time....