| Race Details | |
|---|---|
| Event | Royal Park Foundation Half Marathon 2013 |
| Date & Time | 06 October 2013 09:30:00 |
| Distance | Half Marathon |
| Type | Road Race |
| Time (PB) | 1:48:10 (1:30:28) |
Well I did it! On 06 October 2013 at 10:54 I crossed the line at the end
of my second half marathon. This time it was the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon through the
Royal Parks in London, and wow! It was an absolutely stunning route.
We arrived at Hyde Park early on the Sunday morning to find a good portion of the 16,000 runners already
there. The weather was beautiful and I was excited, after all, the route was due to pass the Houses of
Parliament, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace, as well as running through Hyde Park, Kensington
Gardens, Green Park and St James Park 
. A warm up was done by British Military Fitness on the
main stage before we were directed into our pens. It was my plan to take it steady due to the issues over
the last 4 weeks with almost no training so I hunted down the 1:50 pacers with the intention of running
with them.
At 09:00 the gun went off and it took me 6 minutes to get to the start line before my race could begin. We headed off at a steady pace and, as planned, I stuck with the 1:50 pacers. The route was just as breathtaking as I expected, but what I hadn’t expected was to feel as emotional as I did about it. As I was running through Admiralty Arch onto the Mall, heading for Buckingham Palace, I felt privileged to be able to take part in this event through one of my favourite cities!
I was still with the 1:50 pacers as we headed back into Hyde Park and I was feeling quite good. As we
approached the half way mark, I realised that I should be able to run this with a negative split, so I
slightly increased my pace. This took me ahead of the pacers, but I was feeling comfortable and felt I
was quite capable of holding a steady pace. I carried on through the park with very little idea of where
I was in the pack, but I was really enjoying the run so I didn’t really care. At the 800m to go marker I
stepped up the pace again, gradually increasing until I was sprinting across the line in a time of
1:48:10!! It was done 
and this time, the training I had managed to do brought me to the end
of the race without the need for a stretcher. I actually felt good!
We met up with some of the other Scout runners after the race and then spent the rest of the day exploring
London and playing in the park with George. It was a fantastic day, and the nicest run I have ever been
on 
.
