After the first day of the course I jogged about a mile from the hotel over to the store. Running in London is a bit of a nightmare at rush hour as neither traffic, cyclists nor pedestrians give way. At the store there was a large group of maybe 50 of more, mainly the iPod / Nike fuel band generation and I don’t think there are too many Masters at this event. I felt a bit embarrassed by my lack of manufacturers gear, wearing Brooks trainers, Karrimor socks and a freebie t-shirt from Grangemouth 10k – only the Nike shorts ‘ticked’ the box. After registering there was a group warm up – which I’m never keen on but even worse under the bright lights in the shop. It was quite an achievement to do a dynamic warm up in a confined space.
There were groups for 5k, 7k and 10k. Obviously I went for the 10k and we had a group of about 15. After a quick walk up to the BBC we set off on a warm up towards Regents Park. The main course was to be 2 laps of the Park, but it was on the roads around the outer perimeter so not too scenic. Not wanting to grab the limelight I let the group settle but within the first k I was second without trying too much. The pace ramped up but the guy at the front was too far away to catch and I fell in with a guy from Newham who was moving at a decent pace. The first lap at least had an element of interest but the second lap just became a bit of a hard slog, nothing much to look at but still working hard at around 4:15/km. After the run it was back to the store for a much appreciated bottle of water and a chat with my new Nike+ LDN friends.
I learned that there was also a running group from the Covent Garden store (River Runners) on the Wednesday night so the following night it was another run of just under a mile from the hotel.
This was a smaller group but still 30 or so. A short warm up down to the Thames and realised that the guy I had met the previous night (Prakash) was pacing the 10k run. The course was to take us over Westminster Bridge, eastwards along the south bank, cross back at Tower Bridge and back on the north bank.
The pace started OK but a girl appeared and took it on at 3:45/km. Now the gauntlet was down. Right away we dropped two pretenders as the 3 of us hammered past the London Eye and across the bridge. I would honestly have missed the Houses of Parliament if Big Ben hadn’t struck 7 bells just as we were passing. Some tourists on Westminster Bridge might have some unexpected photos.
The pace eased but even at 4:30/km its hard work ducking and diving between people. At one stage near the Tate Modern some fancy footwork seen me sidestep a group of tourists only to run slap bang into a rather large lady who fortunately for me had brought own air-bags !
By now the girl was struggling so we did the decent thing and dropped her as the two of us pushed on towards Tower Bridge. There was no let up going up the stairs and Prakash took me across the bridge on the wrong side of the traffic barrier, with only the width of the kerb to run on and the traffic too close for comfort.
Back down onto the north bank and past the crowded pubs but keeping the pace going, only slowing when we had to leave the Embankment so that the last K became a jog back to the store.
It was a good friendly crowd although the majority tend to run at a slower pace. That said it was much appreciated and great to get out of the hotel. Both nights gave me a good workout. Met some decent people and explained the Yes / No thing more than once !
They have Nike runs in a number of cities, including Glasgow, so if you are ever away and looking for a run then you could do worse than look up the Nike running stores.
Just Do It !
10k River run route attached. Play sightseeing bingo if you want.
Phimi
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