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Nike Milton Keynes Half-Marathon
Hmmmm. Dithering. On the plus side, flat and non-muddy. On the minus side the feedback from last year isn't exactly encouraging with only 81% saying they'd do it again, and it's on the Dick Turpin side of expensive.
Anyone done this before?
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tours the cycleways and footpaths of the new town with a very pleasant trip back in time as the course takes in a canal towpath through a much older settlement.
you pays yer money......
Thanks Swittle. I've just had a look at Fetch and the comments on there were pretty positive, so what the hell, the credit card was already suffering. Time to deal it a fatal blow
The canal towpath sounds nice
The route for the March Nike half is not the same as the July NSPCC half - in March there's no canal towpath thingy, that's saved for the July one. I think at one time they were similar routes.
I did both last year and they are both pretty flat, although the end of the March has a nasty roadbridge at the end. March one probably has more underpasses to cope with. And is more likely to be PB territory than the July one.
Looks like you're in now Hashette anyway so I hope you enjoy it.
Icemaiden, thanks for setting the record straight.
No worries Swittle, I think all I really wanted was someone to help me feel less guilty about stretching my battered credit card even further! I've been really bad over the last couple of days - Fast Feet Sports have a brilliant stall at the Buntingford 10 every year, loads of really nice quality stuff, marked down massively. I got a gorgeous ultra-light showerproof jacket which was originally £50 for £20, and a lovely new pair of winter tights which unlike my present pair actually reach my ankles.
The bad gremlin on my shoulder whispered in my ear that it was okay because one was a massive saving and one was something I really need.
Hi Aviator
*waves*
Must buy you a beer in the forum pub, Swittle!
Morning Hash
*waves back*
Sounds like you're staging a bid for the 'Best turned out runner prize' this year then!
The March MK run is lightening fast and is still my PB course. FEw underpasses but basically Flat. There is a hump-bakc bridge thin over the cnaal near the end which is a bit of a shock as you have been flat al the way but always run fast here and it is invariably my season best time for half marathon.
IT is also quite scenic going through bits of MK that people who visit don't see from the main roads. You go out to and around Willen lake (which is the only real overlap with the July course) and then back. Can be a bit exposed in places if wind yand being in March it can be either rather pleasant or quite wet adn windy (Hailstones one year and bloomin' freezing another. It isn't cheap but always on my list to do,
Hi
I would go for the MK Half, even though I should be loyal to my local circuit. The MK one has much more variety and interest, whereas Silverstone is just criss crossing the GP track enough times to cover the required mileage. Having said that, there is more kudos twith Silverstone, being linked to the FLM and the British Grand Prix. Parking and facilities would be broadly the same, so it depends how you like your runs to be!
well I've entered - I looked at Silverstone as well, but I'm afraid it just looked deathly boring! The only advantage I could see with Silverstone was the presence of the RW pacers, which I would find useful - I'm lousy at pacing, always start too fast and then die!
I've got Great Bentley on 3rd Feb as well, so with 2 flat HM's, I should make up for the poor performance at St Neots.
any idea how long it'll take to get there from Cambridge? Can't ask hubby and the kids to hang around in the cold for a couple of hours, even if it is Mothering Sunday - so I'll be all alone
hdj999, you could get from Cambridge to MK in about 75 minutes easily - the upgrades to the A428 and A421, have helped a lot in the last couple of years.
Can't decide whether to run this or half the Cambridge Boudary run on the same day. Didn't realise
it was Mother's day though, which could well scupper both,
Hi folks
Entered this race last night for the 3rd year running, as for those of you wondering if you should do MK or Silverstone ............. I ran Silverstone once about 5 years ago and one word comes to mind ...... boring.
Don't get the wrong impression the organisation, atmos and venue is superb for a race of this distance, what lets it down is the fact that being a race track its featureless. Its so boring I nearly fell asleep, just seeing a tree would of been a novelty as a result I've never run it since and prefer alternative venues like this race.
This one is superb for atmos, course, marshalling and organisation. The start can be quite packed so make sure you get there and changed early so you arn't rushing and panicking to find a place in the crowd at the start line. We leave via the road entering the OU campus and turn left onto the main duel carriageway, then right at the next island and by then the field is less dense. The course is via good paths and a few underpasses but very scenic in places. The latter half via the canal catches you out as you run up and over little humpback parts of the path where other paths cross which you don't need with tired legs.
Hopefully they will of taken heed of past feedback and have chip timimg from start to finish, last year it was only recorded at the finish line so those starting at the back who took a few minutes to cross the start wern't as accurately recorded as those who were at the front.
Overall the best HM to run in the area at this time of year.
Okey dokey.. another one convinced.. entered today!!
will be HM number 3... got to keep the PB coming down!!!
Entered the MK Half AND the Silverstone Half. I love both events. It doesn't have to be either/or.
Well l have entered Great Bentley, Milton Keynes AND Silverstone as prep for London Marathon, done all three last year and quite enjoyed !!!
Silverstone is a bit boring but was the most challenging due to the appalling weather and l ran my fastest time there , because the weather was so bad l just wanted to finish the race and get warm again.
Have just got over hamstring injury
so will be interesting to see if l can get around all three races in one piece and then l really will be 
Tim, how'd you do at Bedford last month.. miserable weather eh? I still somehow managed to take 7mins of the PB but by god I was wet, cold and ready for a beer when I finished!
not done MK before, how does it compare?
Scrabble
Last March, I ran 1:44 in the Nike MK Half. Also, 1:44 in the Silverstone Half.
I ran 1:48 in the Bedford Half last month. Also, 1:48 in the St Neot's Half in November.
Hard to say why I took 4 minutes more in the Winter than in the Spring. Perm any of the following:
(a) Marathon training in Spring, 'light' training only in the Winter;
(b) Spring halves flat, whereas Winter halves undulating;
(c) Spring halves generally (hail apart) decent weather, whereas Winter halves horrid;
(d) I was a bit thinner in the Spring than the Winter.
Now, I run only for a laugh and not for times. However, I guess that 1:46 - 1:47 should be about right in March.
I keep telling myself I should do that but once I set out, even on a weekend training run, I always end up watching the stopwatch/garmin and trying to beat the previous time!
Guess I should just start running without the garmin eh?
That said, sounds like I could be on for my sub-1:40 target then, (went 1.41 at Bedford) so maybe just one more before I ditch the garmin
Love this race. Some very scenic bits through rural Milton Keynes. A bit opf an eye-opener for non locals who think thatthe whole place, including the cows are concrete ! It isn't. OK it is on the edge of the housing estates in second half more. Nearly all off-road though on MK redways - designed for pedestrians and cyclists and flat. Few undulations up and down paths under roadbridges and a hump-back canal bridge near the end which is very short but does tend to catch you out a bit. After that a nice fast finish across a wide path and onto the closed road around the campus (well ti is closed where the course is, not the parking on the other side.
I have a few race entries in front of me ready to go in the post and this is one of them, so entering today.
Never done the Silverstone half but like the 10km there on a May evening. That is two laps though which is about right for that course
A quarter of Milton Keynes is parks. And it has 22 million trees