Could I Be the Next Haile Gebrselassie?

CANARY WHARF: Last year it was surf, sun and Sydneysiders, and while it was a lot of fun, it ended with a thermometer up my bum. This time the heat seemed more oppressive, particularly with limited water stops and race organisers who deigned to have us stand in the baking sun for forty minutes waiting to start, but after setting a cracking pace running past Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace I found my rhythm along the riverbank and managed to finish in an extremely impressive (by my own humble standards) 58:34.

I am rambling about the 10K London Run which prides itself as one of the leading 10K events in Europe, unfortunately it seemed to have been organised by a team of baboons on crack. Not only did we have to walk for a k and a half from the baggage drop off point to the start, we then had to wait for more than thirty-five minutes to cross the start line. Then while running, at 11:00 in 30' heat, they decided we'd only need three under stocked water points for 30,000 people. And to add insult to injury after staggering up the finishing straight, with a gnawing fear of a repeat of the thermometer incident, I had to walk another k and half to the water point. I can just imagine the looks of open mouthed incredulity on the faces of the organisers when the coroner asks them if they feel any responsibility for some poor dead runner. Luckily nobody did expire and I eventually made it to a water point.

On a better note it was great to stagger up the Embankment with the site of Big Ben and Westminster coming into view. And I got to stutter across the bridge like a bedgraggled zombie extra in 28 Days Later. A special big thanks have to go to Jacquie for coming to support. It really was better than doing the whole thing anonymously.


The proof is in the pudding