# Great North Run



## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

Just had my ballot entry confirmed for the Great North Run 

220 days of training to go to get a respectable time. 

My nominated charity is Cancer Research UK.


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## t1mmy (Dec 9, 2006)

That's great news, let me know how to sponsor you when the time comes round. Have you set yourself a target?


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks, target time is 1:45. I can run for an hour at 7mph pace currently, so i need to work on both increasing my speed and adding in longer runs to increase my endurance.


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## VAG-hag (May 14, 2012)

Is it your 1st half marathon? if so and you have any questions about the event then fire away mate. When raising funds I recommend virgin over just giving as they take less of a cut from the pot. Good luck and enjoy :thumb:


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## eddie bullit (Nov 23, 2007)

A good run the Great North. The frustrating thing is they have predicted time markers but no one takes any notice. They just push straight to the front. I started at the 1:30 mark and had "runners" walking in front of me as soon as we started..really frustrating. Has put me off doing it since. I prefer smaller events to try and improve my times. It's a fund raising event really..but nowt wrong with that.
Edd.


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

VAG-hag said:


> Is it your 1st half marathon? if so and you have any questions about the event then fire away mate. When raising funds I recommend virgin over just giving as they take less of a cut from the pot. Good luck and enjoy :thumb:


This will be my first half marathon in almost 20 years. I've mainly been road cycling for the last 5 years, weekend sportives and also did the London to Paris a few years ago, but wanted a new challenge for this year.

I think the logistics of getting to the start with all the other runners will be interesting, we have a nice hotel booked for Sat. and Sun. night, but it's about 12 miles from the start.

Thanks for the heads up on the fund raising.


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

eddie bullit said:


> A good run the Great North. The frustrating thing is they have predicted time markers but no one takes any notice. They just push straight to the front. I started at the 1:30 mark and had "runners" walking in front of me as soon as we started..really frustrating. Has put me off doing it since. I prefer smaller events to try and improve my times. It's a fund raising event really..but nowt wrong with that.
> Edd.


Thanks for the heads up, looks like I should aim to start a little higher up than my predicted time. If my training goes well, I may look at doing another smaller half marathon before the GNR in Sept.


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## VAG-hag (May 14, 2012)

The metro is pretty full of fellow runners and I seem to remember it being free on race day, also watch out for banna skins. There are loads all over the floor!


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

My sponsorship page is now setup for the 2013 Great North Run

Your fundraising address is http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Steve_Collins


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

Well it's been quite a while since I update this thread, but I have been training, both on the road and in the gym, for the Great North Run, which is now just 50 days away.

To aid my motivation for my final training, I'll add a daily update from now until race day.

Today's early morning run was a 16.6km run in 1:22:18, which is pretty much on my target pace for a 1:45:00 time or below for the half marathon. I felt reasonably okay at the end of this longer run, target for next weekends long run is to add an extra couple of km to the distance.

All sponsorship donations welcome for Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Steve_Collins


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## eddie bullit (Nov 23, 2007)

I always find I go a little quicker on the day of the event as well. Don't know if it's adrenalin or excitement but always the same.


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

If I can get some miles under my belt I may see you there :thumbs: I was well into training schedule I had in my mind then some twunt did some quite bad soft tissue damage to my ankle at football, so haven't been able to do any running at all for past 3 weeks.

Went out for first time yesterday and other than being well off my pace my ankle seems to have held up ok, so fingers crossed I'll get there. Really pissy thing was I got injured about 4 days after setting up my sponsorship page, so couldn't really promote it in case I had to pull out 

Which/where is your hotel you're staying at? Transport is pretty well organised for the GNR.

Shamless plug (sorry) www.justgiving.com/PuiGo if anyone is interested in sponsoring British Heart Foundation


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

GNR completed. Official time 1:45:19 which included a quick stop for a comfort break, shouldn't have drunk quite so much water before the start and another quick stop to tie-up a loose shoe lace.

Great experience, although most of the run was spent working out a route between all the other runners. If I do it again I'd want to get a better start slot.

Just had a chance to watch the Sky+ recording of the start and I was on TV a couple of times on the pre-start coverage.

Entered the Reading half-marathon for next year with the target of getting under 1:40:00.


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## alipman (May 10, 2007)

Great time. You must be pleased.


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

Yes, very happy with that time given how busy it was on the roads. I started around a third of the way back from the start, but managed to finish 5,928th overall out of the close to 56,000 registered runners.

I came 546 out of 2621 Men aged 45-49, which I was pretty pleased with for my first half marathon.

From my Polar watch data that I've now had a proper chance to look at, my average pace was 4:52 per km so I probably lost at least a couple of mins stopping for a comfort break and having to re-tie one of my shoe laces.


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## DJ X-Ray (Sep 2, 2012)

Nice one, great cause. Well done :thumb:


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

Well done. That's a great time :thumb:

I was aiming for 2:10 (secretly wanted 2hr & single minutes though) but ended up with a 2:16. was a 6 min improvement on my last attempt though so I'm reasonably happy.

Know what you mean about dodging people. Overestimaters (or block jumpers) pee'd me off no end . I started from the back of Block G (my bib number was 26xxx) so was placed about right for my time and I was virtually tripping over idiots, not meaning to be sexist but it was mainly pairs of women, who were just casually walking along chatting away to each other. I wouldn't have minded people flagging at the later stages, but several of these were before mile 1 and the Tyne bridge :wall:

There was someone on a running forum the other week who was in Zone D and came on asking what the predicted time was for that group. "*about 3 hours-ish?*"  More like 1hr 40ish I think! Given that she and everyone else register their estimated time when you enter, it just makes you want to scream!

Being right in the middle of the pack, I found it got very congested from around 7 & 8 mile mark (Leam Lane) where it narrows down to 2 lanes of road.

Generally, it must've been quite a strong field this year. Despite knocking that 6 mins off my previous time, I dropped 466 places in the overall rankings (was 25017 in 2010 and 25483 this year).

Managed to find someone in the results who ran same time as my other one (2:22:56) and they were ranked 28587 (3570 places down on 2010).


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

Well done m1pui, I can imagine it must have been hard work getting through the slower runners even further back from the start.

The crowds of supporters along the route were great though at keeping the motivation going. There was even a group giving out small glasses of real ale towards the end.


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

Z4-35i said:


> Well done m1pui, I can imagine it must have been hard work getting through the slower runners even further back from the start.
> 
> The crowds of supporters along the route were great though at keeping the motivation going. There was even a group giving out small glasses of real ale towards the end.


The support is fantastic, amazing that so many of them stay out despite the weather being awful! It must be a nightmare for the residents being stuck in, but they do make the best of it.

My better half was working in the first aid tent so we got to the finish area for 8.45am and there was quite a few people, young and old, setting up deck chairs and umbrella's at that time!

I didn't see the ale, but heard that there was another group passing out sausage rolls somewhere along it. :lol: I did see a couple of people from houses along the John Reid Road with sliced oranges and biscuits for runners. It was quite hot the other year I did it and some of them had dragged hose-pipes out and had the shower sprays on to cool the runners down.


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

Got an email from marathon photos this morning. I hope you look better than I do in my pictures :lol:


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

I had a quick look at the ones they took of me finishing and they look like they've been taken with an old camera phone or maybe I did actual look that bad by the end of the race :lol: They'd need a lot of Photoshop work.


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

I've bought a digital download, just for the craic. But yes, I think the only way it could be photoshopped better is by photoshopping me out of it :lol: I had a jacket on for the first few miles so I didn't have my number visible for any potential photo's coming off the Tyne bridge, when I probably didn't look so rough.

The previews are pretty low-res so I'm expecting the paid for to be nice and sharp.

Bugger could've at least waited until I'd finished checking my watch! I look like I'm about to pour my drink over myself!!


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## t1mmy (Dec 9, 2006)

Great effort from you both, I was out of the country but heard the weather was a bit grim.

Z4 - have you done Reading before? I still need to sign up for the 2014 race but should be there.


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

t1mmy said:


> Great effort from you both, I was out of the country but heard the weather was a bit grim.
> 
> Z4 - have you done Reading before? I still need to sign up for the 2014 race but should be there.


Hi t1mmy, No, I've not run Reading before, much more local to me than Newcastle though. I didn't get a place in the London marathon next year so I'm going to train more for 10k and half marathon runs.


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

Z4-35i said:


> Hi t1mmy, No, I've not run Reading before, much more local to me than Newcastle though. I didn't get a place in the London marathon next year so I'm going to train more for 10k and half marathon runs.


I was just saying to a friend the other day that I fancy doing a marathon, but I think I'd get bored running for 4+ hours. So unless I can miraculously transform into a 3 hr marathon runner :lol: it would have to be somewhere awesome to motivate me and London or, my local, Sunderland don't excite me at all 

Annoyingly, the mate in question is a 74 minute half-runner and he also thinks he might get bored running a marathon duration.


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## t1mmy (Dec 9, 2006)

Z4-35i said:


> Hi t1mmy, No, I've not run Reading before, much more local to me than Newcastle though. I didn't get a place in the London marathon next year so I'm going to train more for 10k and half marathon runs.


Make sure you incorporate a few hill sessions into your training. There are a couple of fairly steep hills which thankfully have nice long downward stretches after them.


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## 03OKH (May 2, 2009)

Well done to you both on your times 

I am doing my first ever half marathon this Sunday 13th October @ Oxford, hoping for 2:15 (ish).

Havent ran since school and 46 now, but have done the training so should finish, and should finish before everyone else has gone home 

TonyM


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

03OKH said:


> Well done to you both on your times
> 
> I am doing my first ever half marathon this Sunday 13th October @ Oxford, hoping for 2:15 (ish).
> 
> ...


All the best for the run on Sunday :thumb:


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## 03OKH (May 2, 2009)

Well, I did it, I have ran a half marathon  

I ran with the 2:15 pacemaker and then went solo @ 12 miles finishing in 2:13.39, in hindsight I could have done more / gone faster but achieved my target so happy with that.

If I ever do another one, I will run with the 2:00 pacemaker, but it is a big if 

Well done again to all who have achieved this, hope they are as proud of their own achievements as I am.

TonyM


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