This was my first race in the UK and the first I was doing with my sister. I decided it would be a good warm up for the half the next day so I could get used to the temperature.
We arrived in Bournemouth in good time to check in to the hotel and figure out how to get to the race village. We got changed and ready, and wandered down via the cycle lanes. It was a beautiful walk, and there were so many runners just walking up who had done the 10km so we got a good look at the finisher medal and t-shirt. Nice! More inspiration! Sian was a bit worried but decided she needed to finish in order to collect the items at the end.
As we had plenty of time, we found the Julia's house stall so I could give them the cash I had raised towards my target, and chatted with people there before heading down to the seafront. I loved the views there, and went around taking photos as Sian rested. We saw the final finishers of the 10km come in, and heard announcements for the start of our race. People had dressed up for the occasion and I wished we had put paint on after all! Some runners had clear umbrellas with light trails, and they looked like jellyfish. We had all been asked to wear fluorescent clothing and most people had done this. A few wore their finisher tees from the 10km or from last year. The atmosphere was amazing.
We headed for the start when it opened, our pen was at the back so we joined the lines there and collected our headtorches. People were happily chatting and welcoming each other, and then we started. As I was doing the half the next day and the main aim was just to finish, we got to a nice fast walking pace and stayed there, with a few short running intervals at times, partly to warm up! The route was nice, heading along the sea front near the beach houses, then an out and back on the pier and we found the finish line. They called out our names as we came across which was really cool. We got our goodie bags which were totally fab, then headed off to find food. We had no idea what we could find and Sian said she had had trouble there before so we wished we hadn't left the sea front. We then looked at foursquare and discovered a Wetherspoons....result! As it was Saturday it was chocka but we got a seat outside on the top level and ate lovely food.
We arrived in Bournemouth in good time to check in to the hotel and figure out how to get to the race village. We got changed and ready, and wandered down via the cycle lanes. It was a beautiful walk, and there were so many runners just walking up who had done the 10km so we got a good look at the finisher medal and t-shirt. Nice! More inspiration! Sian was a bit worried but decided she needed to finish in order to collect the items at the end.
As we had plenty of time, we found the Julia's house stall so I could give them the cash I had raised towards my target, and chatted with people there before heading down to the seafront. I loved the views there, and went around taking photos as Sian rested. We saw the final finishers of the 10km come in, and heard announcements for the start of our race. People had dressed up for the occasion and I wished we had put paint on after all! Some runners had clear umbrellas with light trails, and they looked like jellyfish. We had all been asked to wear fluorescent clothing and most people had done this. A few wore their finisher tees from the 10km or from last year. The atmosphere was amazing.
We headed for the start when it opened, our pen was at the back so we joined the lines there and collected our headtorches. People were happily chatting and welcoming each other, and then we started. As I was doing the half the next day and the main aim was just to finish, we got to a nice fast walking pace and stayed there, with a few short running intervals at times, partly to warm up! The route was nice, heading along the sea front near the beach houses, then an out and back on the pier and we found the finish line. They called out our names as we came across which was really cool. We got our goodie bags which were totally fab, then headed off to find food. We had no idea what we could find and Sian said she had had trouble there before so we wished we hadn't left the sea front. We then looked at foursquare and discovered a Wetherspoons....result! As it was Saturday it was chocka but we got a seat outside on the top level and ate lovely food.
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