Great North Run today
running 13.1 miles great
atmosphere okay
organisation at finnish to get goody bag etc. fine.
Having to weave past people who had started further down teh course when I had started where I thoughtmy finish time was
Sitting in car park for 3 hours just wanting to get home for bath or shower!!!!! need I say more particularly as I live only 20 minutes drive from finish under normal circumstance I feel sorry for those runners who had to wait this lenght of time to get out of carpark then had journey of several hours home. Surely there is a better way of organising teh car park than what happened today.
Having not competed in teh GNR for 7 years this experience has put me off mass participation events. Any one else feel the same?
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Fab day
Are all events that crowded or is the GNR worse than most? Any suggestions for friendly ones coming up where there is a bit more space?
Thanks!
It's also very hard for anyone hoping to see their friends and family running as the human eye can only register so many faces in the seconds it takes for them to pass!
Only do it if you're prepared to handle the masses and don't want a good time. Not sure I'll do it again - it's also very expensive at £24, and it's put me off doing FLM next year.
Probably most smaller regional events are easier but from experience it's possible for car parking arrangements to go wrong even when there are only a few hundred runners.
Huge congrats to everyone who did it hope you enjoyed it despite the crowds.
The numbers were pretty small, and that would make it hard to spot, but if they gave runners different coloured numbers, and got them to line up next to a specific colour, rather than an expected time, this could help sort things out a bit more. I have been at races where the time boards are hard to spot, but the barriers could be coloured to match the numbers, making it easier for people to know where they should be starting from.
I must day, watching yesterday, I firstly thought "I'd love to be there", then as I saw the huge numbers of people finishing around what I hope would be my target time for next year, I thought "maybe not". I'm pretty slow, and so I'm used to being able to run at my own pace after a mile or so. Not sure I could cope being surrounded by so many people for 13 miles!
Addicted.
This year I enjoyed: -
The 13.1 mile
The runners along the way
The supporters (especially those dishing out chocy biscuits)
The entertainers (official and otherwise)
The wagon wheel in my goody bag
The fast red things in the sky
The picnic provided by my wife at the end
I even enjoyed the 3-mile walk to my car to get the picnic
All-in-all a marvellous day )
Will
I was prepared for a mass participation event to be not the place for a PB, but I found that by about half way I was actually losing interest. Maybe they should rename it "Scrum on a motorway."
On the upside I enjoyed meeting Wild Will & Sean & Olly (RW pacers) at the start, and speaking to longdistancebadger on the way round. Badge, you looked a bit stressed out chasing your pal Caroline who seemed intent on weaving through the crowds at all costs!
The weather was great and the Red Arrows were spectacular. As for next year - thanks but no thanks.
The Great North Run is not a Great North Race for the masses. It is to be expected that the elite runners will have space and full co-operation in running Pbs and for breaking records but the main thrust of the run is for the ordinary people (47.000 of them )The day is designed for club runners,joggers or even the first time participants to enjoy themselves and soak up the atmosphere that they would not otherwise every enjoy..
I did in fact get my best time this year but I would not have been miffed had I not...I find the downside of this event is the vast number of vehicles trying to leave South Shields and after a couple of years being gridlocked I now always stay overnight and travel back on clear roads although I do realised this may not be possible for many runners/spectators.
Don't be put off for 2003 - you are participating in the biggest half marathon in the world, that must be worth a few inconveiniences.
My only gripe is the same as OB's - trying to get away from the finish by car is a nightmare but I'm willing to put up with it once a year.
ND
Those who want to break pbs should Not enter this race
Its all about taking part, two of the people I spoke to pre race spent last year having a policeman kissing competition and finished in 3.5 hours!!
It gets people out running, and shows them that it isnt jist a sport for really fit and elite people!!!
Surely this is an important fact about running, the elite should be encouraging those walkers who at least made the effort to be there
You all do it on the forums with us slow runners, but if I was logging on to the forum for the first time and saw some of the wwwwwwwhinges, id be really put off
Us slowcoaches have to have one race where we feel good, and I think the GNR is it
The public support was (mostly) fantastic, poeple were even offering us bicuits from their tins at home
Awww
So come on you lot, give us tortoises some credit, we did try, even if walking and im sorry to say that some of your posts made me feel inadequate
I will definitely be entering next year, and dont really care what time I do, but will try to raise more money
Rant over
It was great, the weather was great, the start was an experience, crossing over the tyne bridge with the red arrows fly by was superb, (even though this was after somebody had trippede me up and I went flying !!! only pride and a knee scraped.
Moving through the field and around others runners did not upset me it actually made me feel better!
The crowd every inch of the way ( whopps am I allowed to use inch now ?)was great and lifted me, particularly at 9.5 and 11 miles when the going got tough.
The last mile seemed to go on for every but the good humour, from most of the runners, was never ending.
Finished in 2 hours 5 mins 10 mins in front of my target for my first marathon.
Sitting feeling quite knackered at Family meeting Point last great suprise those red planes flying at what appeared zero feet with zero space between finished off a spectacular day.
Guess what I enjoyed every minute of the day
and I imagine so did many other people.
Also manage to raise huge amounts of money for charity as well
Back next year ? Silly question YES, want a PB who cares.
I will enter for next year, and if I get a place there will be no happier runner than I.
So i cant have seen you
Watching some highlights on vid tonight, fantastic
I feel so much better now
Well done all
I was the last time I looked
I might not be when I get back in work tommorow, I'm not sure if i booked today off as a holiday !!!!!
The problem is ( and so very hard to police ) that entrants will not stand in the area that suits their expected times, If they would, the problem would resolve itself.
it was interesting on the highlights that all the celebs interviewed, who had front line places, were a lot slower than a lot on this forum
Just no justice is there
Atmosphere cannot be beaten in my experience to date, athough this is the biggest race I've run & naturally excludes international or other great successes such as London.
The crowds are great - all the way
Finish is well sign posted - medics / physio's / massages on hand at finish - most welcome.
Low's
People still insist on starting well ahead of their predicted times and are walking at 1st mile marker - truly frustrating / annoying & just continue until the end - this is a real bug bear - some runners are just not considerate - so much so I started with The Runners World Pacers for 1.30 finish & had ability to crack time; however due to congestion RW Pacers had to dodge & weave well ahead of schedule which left many 1.30 people in their wake - unsure just how many they did manage to take with them - but the crowds are just too big to get a realistic time !
Toilets could do with being spread along the start instead of at the rear.
Toilets could also do with being libearlly spread at finish
Wheelchair racers,Our hearts go out to every one of them !! I am especially proud to live in the same town as Tanni & Ian
The Elite who are there to win and break records ( all good for both the event and the Sponsors)
The celebs who are given priority like starting at the front. I think this is well deserved after not only running three miles in the Junior run surrounded by screaming kids but spending the rest of the day at the mercy of proud parents wanting their children to have an autograph and a photo
Red Numbers who have previously completed All of the 22 GNRs
Greens who have completed over ten
And then the serious club runners who are expected to sub 1.40 followed by the masses....yes it is a run for everybody and we should never knock it