Now that I am wrapping up running a half marathon in all 50 states, one of my next goals is to run one in all 7 continents. I had the … MORE
Now that I am wrapping up running a half marathon in all 50 states, one of my next goals is to run one in all 7 continents. I had the opportunity to go to Lisbon for a conference from 10/16 to 10/19 and decided to find a European Half Marathon to pair with the trip. There wasn’t any in Lisbon but I found this one the weekend before so decided to start my European adventures in London. This is a huge race with over 15,000 participants and entry requires lottery, charity or through a tour group. I decided to play it safe and just went through Marathon Tours which provided guaranteed entry and also covered the hotel and the logistics. I took a red eye from Boston to London Thursday night and the trip included a stay at the Intercontinental hotel from Friday through Monday (you can request to extend your trip if you want to go longer but these were the exact days I wanted to be in London). The trip had some group dinners and cocktail hours but was pretty unscheduled which was nice as there was time to do whatever you want to do in London. There is very good pre-race communication with emails about every week and a detailed race guide. If you live in the UK your packet is mailed but if you are international you need to pick it up either the day before or race morning. We did a group run Saturday morning and ended at bib pick up. Sunday was race day morning and we walked together as a group which took away a lot of stress. The start had 8 corrals and you were assigned an expected start time. It was a bit chaotic with so many people but overall was not bad and I was happy we started right about on time unlike Montreal where we started much later than the listed time for the corral. Once you start the race is amazing and this may be my favorite of all my half marathon. The race starts in Hyde Park and most of the race is in the Royal Parks. At around mile 1 you run past Buckingham palace. Then there is about 2-3 miles through the streets of London where you pass Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and just about all the landmarks you think about when you picture London. I think these were my favorite miles of any race. It gets a bit more boring after mile 5 as the rest is through the parks but I completely get why when holding a huge race with a 4 hour time limit in London you would have the last half in a public park. However all the streets for the race and the park were closed and there was much less maneuvering around tourists as a race in Central Park in NYC. The parks still had very nice scenery with some gardens and statues. The race route was pretty much all closed off and you could not get lost. The best part was the entire race was lined with spectators. I mean the entire race. I think this may have had the most spectators of any race I’ve done. It is well organized though aid station were more sparse than America and just had water. I think this is more typical of Europe so I won’t take off production points. There were accurate mile markers and 5km markers with timing mats for splits. The course is also really fast and flat with just some inclines and declines and is the perfect elevation for me. Between the high energy from all the spectators and the fast course I was on fire. Even though I stopped and took some pics the first couple miles I realized at the halfway mark I was definitely going to be under 3 hours and was on pace to be under 2:45. It took all my strength and energy to keep up the pace but I did it and had my fastest half marathon time since my injury in 2021! At the finish they gave some peanut butter oat bars, water and a plant based tropical energy drink. You get your medal which is kind of a lame, wooden medal but has London landmarks on it and the race is an environmentally friendly race they wanted to use more sustainable materials so I will forgive them. My only production complaint is it was a bit jam packed at the end as you got the shirts at the end. They were also out of the smaller sizes of shirts but I can wear a larger shirt so it was fine. The shirts are also made of recyclable materials so are only okay. Oh well the rest of the race was so great it made up for the swag. The finish party was excellent. There were food trucks including a completely vegan one (and most of the others had vegan and vegetarian options) and runners got an alcohol free beer. This party was made for alcohol-free, meat-free people like me. Overall this was an excellent race with a really nice, flat fast course and amazing spectator support. As long as you are okay with mediocre swag and figuring out how to get entry I would definitely recommend this race for Europe. I also loved London and plan to come back for the full marathon one day!
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London Calling
Now that I am wrapping up running a half marathon in all 50 states, one of my next goals is to run one in all 7 continents. I had the … MORE
Now that I am wrapping up running a half marathon in all 50 states, one of my next goals is to run one in all 7 continents. I had the opportunity to go to Lisbon for a conference from 10/16 to 10/19 and decided to find a European Half Marathon to pair with the trip. There wasn’t any in Lisbon but I found this one the weekend before so decided to start my European adventures in London. This is a huge race with over 15,000 participants and entry requires lottery, charity or through a tour group. I decided to play it safe and just went through Marathon Tours which provided guaranteed entry and also covered the hotel and the logistics. I took a red eye from Boston to London Thursday night and the trip included a stay at the Intercontinental hotel from Friday through Monday (you can request to extend your trip if you want to go longer but these were the exact days I wanted to be in London). The trip had some group dinners and cocktail hours but was pretty unscheduled which was nice as there was time to do whatever you want to do in London. There is very good pre-race communication with emails about every week and a detailed race guide. If you live in the UK your packet is mailed but if you are international you need to pick it up either the day before or race morning. We did a group run Saturday morning and ended at bib pick up. Sunday was race day morning and we walked together as a group which took away a lot of stress. The start had 8 corrals and you were assigned an expected start time. It was a bit chaotic with so many people but overall was not bad and I was happy we started right about on time unlike Montreal where we started much later than the listed time for the corral. Once you start the race is amazing and this may be my favorite of all my half marathon. The race starts in Hyde Park and most of the race is in the Royal Parks. At around mile 1 you run past Buckingham palace. Then there is about 2-3 miles through the streets of London where you pass Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and just about all the landmarks you think about when you picture London. I think these were my favorite miles of any race. It gets a bit more boring after mile 5 as the rest is through the parks but I completely get why when holding a huge race with a 4 hour time limit in London you would have the last half in a public park. However all the streets for the race and the park were closed and there was much less maneuvering around tourists as a race in Central Park in NYC. The parks still had very nice scenery with some gardens and statues. The race route was pretty much all closed off and you could not get lost. The best part was the entire race was lined with spectators. I mean the entire race. I think this may have had the most spectators of any race I’ve done. It is well organized though aid station were more sparse than America and just had water. I think this is more typical of Europe so I won’t take off production points. There were accurate mile markers and 5km markers with timing mats for splits. The course is also really fast and flat with just some inclines and declines and is the perfect elevation for me. Between the high energy from all the spectators and the fast course I was on fire. Even though I stopped and took some pics the first couple miles I realized at the halfway mark I was definitely going to be under 3 hours and was on pace to be under 2:45. It took all my strength and energy to keep up the pace but I did it and had my fastest half marathon time since my injury in 2021! At the finish they gave some peanut butter oat bars, water and a plant based tropical energy drink. You get your medal which is kind of a lame, wooden medal but has London landmarks on it and the race is an environmentally friendly race they wanted to use more sustainable materials so I will forgive them. My only production complaint is it was a bit jam packed at the end as you got the shirts at the end. They were also out of the smaller sizes of shirts but I can wear a larger shirt so it was fine. The shirts are also made of recyclable materials so are only okay. Oh well the rest of the race was so great it made up for the swag. The finish party was excellent. There were food trucks including a completely vegan one (and most of the others had vegan and vegetarian options) and runners got an alcohol free beer. This party was made for alcohol-free, meat-free people like me. Overall this was an excellent race with a really nice, flat fast course and amazing spectator support. As long as you are okay with mediocre swag and figuring out how to get entry I would definitely recommend this race for Europe. I also loved London and plan to come back for the full marathon one day!
Fantastic
This is one of my all-time favorite half marathons! The course is flat, flat, flat. You run by Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. You run through multiple Royal … MORE
This is one of my all-time favorite half marathons! The course is flat, flat, flat. You run by Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. You run through multiple Royal Parks and start & finish in Hyde Park. The organization is great and I loved it. I would love to do this one again!