Bupa Great North Run

Just back from my first trip to England where I ran in the Bupa Great North Run September 18th.    This race is currently the world's largest half marathon with a maximum capacity of 54,000 runners.  A general lottery is held for race entries as well as many entries being reserved for runners racing money for various charities.

I must admit that the trip was poorly organized on my part as I was pre occupied for the months leading up to the race buying and selling houses and relocating from Texas to Louisiana for work.  Once my actual move date was nailed down and my move completed in early August, I decided in mid August that I would indeed make the trip for the race.

I first learned of this huge race in northern England in October last year.  I wore my race shirt for the Jazz Half Marathon that I had just completed on my flight back to Houston from New Orleans.  The guy seated next to me was returning to England after vacationing in New Orleans.  Seeing my race shirt, he told me about the Newcastle race and how difficult it was to secure a spot in the event. 

Once I got home, I researched the race and noted the lottery opening date on my calendar.  I entered the lottery not confident that I would be selected.  So as luck would have it, my entry was successful when the lottery was held in January.  Once selected, I booked a race transfer package that included lodging for the night prior to the race.  Not knowing anything about the area, I just blindly selected a place based on website descriptions (and price of course).

Reviving my trip planning seven months after being entered into the race and having one nights lodging booked, I booked a Wednesday to Wednesday flight from New Orleans to London with United or Continental (can you really tell these days?).  I bought a book on England earlier in the year to help with my planning.  Based on the 7 days I would be in England, I booked a couple of nights in a hotel in Bath for my first 2 days and then 3 nights in London post race.  A week before the trip and I had nothing booked for travel within England. 

Friday before leaving, I decided to purchase a 4 day rail pass for my travel within England.  Thanks goodness for 2 day Fedex shipping as I received the pass the day before my flight. 

I arrived at the airport Wednesday afternoon for my 5:20 pm flight and all was going well until my flight was cancelled due to a mechanical problem right when we were supposed to start the boarding process.  As instructed, I got my bag from baggage claim and proceeded to the ticketing counter along with the rest of the passengers to figure out new transportation.  Louis Armstrong is not a large airport and not much flight activity occurs after 5:00.  It seemed that most people were heading home with flight plans for the following day.  I got lucky and was put on an American flight at 7:00 connection to London through Dallas instead of my original flight connecting through DC.

After going through a long customs line to get into England, I had my rail pass activated and was on my way to Bath.  My hotel was very old with a tiny, slanted 2nd floor by England count (3rd floor to us Americans) room with a private external bathroom.  It was within a half mile of the train station.

After a great 2 day stay, I caught a 9:00 train to Darlington where I would determine how I would make it to my lodging booked way back in February.  After the 7 hour train ride, I arrived in Darlington and sought information on local transportation options.  Prior to heading to England, I looked into renting a vehicle.  The problem I encountered was that no car rental companies were open on Sunday.  I needed to return the car Sunday post race in order to travel to London on the 4th day of my 4 day rail pass.

With no car rental agency in sight of the train station, I opted for a train to Bishop Auckland in order to get somewhat closer to my lodging.  Once arriving at the BA unmanned station, I walked over to the nearest business and one of the employees graciously called a cab company for me.  My Verizon cell phone was in paperweight mode the entire trip as Verizon's platform does not work at all in England.

Almost 40 quid later, I was at the bed and breakfast.  I then had the issue of figuring out a way to get to the shuttle bus pickup area in Dunham the next morning for the race.  Another couple staying at the bed and breakfast offered me a ride to the bus the next morning so I was set for the race. 

I had breakfast race morning at 6; at 7:30 we caught a bus to the race start.  The race atmosphere was fantastic; many runners were dressed in costume.  After the elite wheelchair and elite women's start, we got underway after the Red Angels did a flyover. 

Like Alaska, weather was fantastic; course was nice; training was lacking. Severly.  I thought my training for my mid June Alaska race was off, training for this race was practically non existent.

12 week leadup in 4 week increments:

First 4 weeks: 32 miles
Second 4 weeks: 11 miles
Third 4 weeks: 41 miles

Mile splits show the lack of training in the later miles:

Mile 1  8:54
Mile 2  8:39
Mile 3  8:38
Mile 4  8:44
Mile 5-6 17:02
Mile 7  8:49
Mile 8  8:36
Mile 9-10  20:01
Mile 11-12 19:35
Mile 13.1 9:21
Total 1:57

Post race, I got my checked bag, changed in a portolet and caught the shuttle bus back to Durham.  Once in Durham, I ran around looking for a taxi.  I finally went to a hotel and had them order me a taxi to get back to the bed and breakfast.  I had the taxi wait at the b&b while I retrieved my luggage and then continued my fare to the train station in Darlington.  Total fare was over 100 quid. Yikes. 

After the long train trip to London, I caught the tube to my hotel.  After sitting for so long post race, I hobbled around the remainder of my trip.  Yeah, lack of training had alot to do with that as well.

All in all, it could have been a much better planned trip but it was another successful run for me.  This was my first run outside of the United States.  There are no eminent plans for a second international run.