2nd June 2003
First half shared with about 2000 half-marathon runners. Running through the city on a nice warm sunny day brought out many spectators, who were terrific in their support. The heat caught out a few runners.
The second half started as the other race entered the stadium. A very daunting prospect that we were only halfway done. From running in crowds to almost complete loneliness. Then came the hills, and of course it had warmed up by now, making it even harder. Isolated pockets of support - including a pub which provided an unofficial drink stop. Lovely and supportive people, but so few of them.

Also the second half was out and in; so the drink point at 18m served also at 24m - a depressing gap.

Made it, and good response in the stadium.

Note: the tight time limits (2hr 15m - no access to second half, 4hr 30m pick-up by 'sweeper bus')
did not appear to be enforced.

I ran this one because I didn't get into London and I'd do it again, if I didn't get into London. Its an out-and-back course and there was a vicious hill in JUST the wrong place when I ran it but they may have changed the course since then to remove it. The support was good but sparse in places.

As it was my first marathon, I was understandably nervous, but the first half of the race went very smoothly. Since the half marathon is run with the full, there were plenty of people to pace with and the miles flew by. It was only on the second loop of the course that I started to notice the lack of spectators on certain parts of the course. The wind and rain started to pick up, draining the reserves and just when you needed the crowd to cheer you on (especially up some of the hills), there was no-one about! Thankfully, the last couple hundred yards features a downhill section that is just perfect after 26 miles. I ended up doing 3.29 which I was very pleased with, given the undulating course and challenging conditions. I would really recommend this one if you fancy pushing yourself.