2010 Bupa London 10000

Last Updated on Monday, 31 May 2010 05:39 Written by The Virtual Runner Monday, 31 May 2010 05:36

I’ve successfully completed the Bupa London 10000 again with this year’s event being just as great as last year’s.  Sure, there wasn’t a personal best for me this year but I had a really great time and a great run.  I ran with a friend who used this as their first (and hopefully not last) 10k so I took my time and ran with him the whole way and walked when he walked.

Overall it was a great day out and Bupa spares no expense on their events.  Well worth the additional money you pay for one of their events as opposed to others.  Lots of toilets (always important), loads of runners, loads of supporters, well marked, well organised with a great goody bag and a quality-feel medal (I love the medals!).

If you’ve never done the Bupa London 10000 before then I seriously recommend you register for the 2011 event because you won’t regret it.  I got my personal for a 10k at the 2009 event so I’d give it a high personal best potential rating (I mean, if I can do it then so can everyone else!).

I previously mentioned that a work contact of me managed to get me last-minute entry to this event.  Unfortunately he wasn’t able to run with my friend and I as he has been ill the past few days.  Frankly, having not been able to complete the marathon because of illness, I can relate.  We just told him to stay home and chill out; there are always other events.

My super supportive wifey also came along to cheer us on.  She is such a great supporter and she was at the start line as we went by yelling and cheering us on (and even ran beside us for a few metres) and she was at the finish on the Mall to cheer us on again.

I think my friend was quite nervous about the event because the last event he took part in was the Santa Run which was 5k and over off-road terrain.  He thought he would make it to about 4k before he needed to take a walking break.  Nope.  He made it 6.2k before he had to walk the 1st time.  Overall, we only stopped to walk 3 times.  For his first 10k, that is a fantastic achievement and I think he felt that too.

I tried to explain that 10k is a great distance because it’s over before you know it and you also get that fantastic feeling when you cross the finish line.  Whether you’re first or last!  (Note:  I’ve never been either – yet.)

You can check out our route and split times here:-

Overall a great morning out and a great event. Like I said, if you haven’t done it before then give the Bupa London 10000 a go!

2010 Reading Half Marathon

Last Updated on Friday, 26 March 2010 07:28 Written by The Virtual Runner Friday, 26 March 2010 07:28

Although I’m not exactly proud of the finish time, I thought I’d post my splits from the Reading Half Marathon.

Here is the route as recorded by my lovely Garmin Forerunner…

13.1 miles of pain.  Actually, as the second half hurt it was more like 6 or 7 miles of pain.

Next year my time will be back under 2 hours!  Mark my words!