Race Report: Great South Run

On Sunday I ran the Bupa Great South Run - a flat, 10 mile race with around 20,000 runners taking part.

Following on from last year’s race report, which ended with “Would I do it again? If you'd asked me two minutes after finishing I would've said no, but I think I've got to try and beat 2 hours haven't I..?”, I was back for my second time of running this race. I knew I was better prepared than last year (when my longest training run before the race had been 8 miles!), but I also knew that I hadn’t been putting in lots of distance training over the past few months. With those in mind, my goals for this race were;

A) Beat last year’s time of 2:03:11
B) Run under 1:55
C) Run under 1:50

With A being a very realistic target and knowing that C would be quite a challenge!

Some of the thousands of people running the Great South Run (source)

I wasn’t apprehensive about the race at all - I knew I’d be able to get round the course, and (for once!) the weather was good - bright and crisp - perfect for running. But it’s fair to say that I didn’t have the best of races - you know you have an ‘off’ run every so often? Sunday was one of those days; it was just unfortunate that it happened to be a race. I struggled mentally and physically for much of the race.

Miles 1-3: It took me a while to get into a decent rhythm, but I told myself I wasn’t stopping until at least the 5km marker. I found it hard mentally at the beginning - I just couldn’t motivate myself to get excited about the race.

Miles 3-6: The middle section was probably the best for me; I’d found my pace, had some water and some Shot Bloks and was feeling more refreshed and optimistic.

Miles 6-8: At this point I started to get bored, it’s the dullest section of the race, with few supporters, no bands etc. I could feel a couple of blisters on my feet that were starting to bother me and my right hip kept twinging (not an area I’ve ever had problems with in the past).

Miles 8-10: By now I was feeling tired (looking back, it may have been an under-fuelling issue - the race didn’t start till 11 and I’d eaten breakfast at 7:30!), and the twinge in my hip was bothering me almost constantly. The last two miles of this race are along the sea-front, I kept telling myself that the quickest was back to the start was to run the last two miles, despite the discomfort, I also knew that the more I ran and less I walked, the quicker it would be over!

I crossed the finished line in 1:54:14, so I managed goals A and B :)

After finishing the race I realised I felt quite light headed (again - probably due to lack of food, by now it was 1pm). I sat down for a while and hobbled the half mile to the pub, where I had a yummy and much-deserved veggie Wellington roast dinner.

Some of the amazing support on the way round (source)

I know this post is quite negative, but I also realise that it was only due to my issues that it was a bad race. The Great South Run is one of the biggest, well-organised and popular races I’ve been too. There’s support on the majority of the route, bands and music as well, it’s a completely flat course and the goody bags are well worth it! There was a ‘Bupa Boost Station’ at mile 9, which I thought was a really nice touch - they were blasting out cheesey, motivating music and handing out jelly babies and Vaseline - it helped to push through for the last mile. So please don’t let my whinging put you off this event!

Now I just have to figure out what to do about this hip pain, that still hasn’t gone away, and definitely feels like more than DOMS. I think I’ll rest it for a few more days and hope it passes. What do you do about niggles/twinges/discomfort? Do you seek help straightaway or try resting it first?

Length: 10 miles
Time: 1:54:14
Pace: 11:25 min/mile

10 Miles - Great South Run, Portsmouth

I will try to keep this short because I am sleeeeeeeepy! Just got back after a long day of goods :) and bads :(

So twas my first GSR/first 10 mile race/first 10 mile run(!) today! Was a lot warmer than expected and there were *so* many people there (over 20,000 I believe). I started in the last wave, so after waiting for ages for almost every single other person to start, I was finally off. First person stopped to walk bang in front of me after about 10 metres - at least they tried - right?! :P

The first 6 miles were really good - I enjoyed them. :) Then it was all a bit downhill from there, got a stitch just after 6 miles, then tummy cramps so I walked for about 3 minutes, then had to stop at mile 7 to go to the loo! Ran 7-8, then turned the corner onto the seafront to be blasted by the strongest winds! Hardly moved - a friend described it as trying to run in treacle, which is a pretty accurate description! Then legs decided they'd had enough - boo to them! Walked for a few more minutes, then saw the 9 mile sign and thought I'd better start running. Legs were sore at this point but managed to pick up the pace and run to the finish line.


I predicted my time would be around 2hrs 15mins. My chip time was 2:03:11 :D Forget to check HRM when I crossed the line, but think it was still over 2 hours (I'd stopped it when I stopped for the loo). Slightly annoyed I didn't scrape in under two hours, but did better than I'd hoped, so am 'appy with that!

There was fantastic support all the way round - hardly a single section that didn't have spectators along, as well as several bands playing music on the route, plenty of water on offer and a good goodybag too.

Then had to walk the 1.5 miles back to the restaurant where I had a yummy lunch/dinner with friends.

Would I do it again? If you'd asked me two minutes after finishing I would've said no, but I think I've got to try and beat 2 hours haven't I..? :D

(Okay, so that wasn't very short! :D)