Where Finsbury Park, London
When November 2, 2008
First Man Malachi Byansi 36:18
First Woman Nicola Froud 40:14
Last Finisher 1:32:27
No. of Finishers 1,096
It's not often that Race Reports struggles to find the positives in a race, but this year's Rainforest 10K in London was a
let-down on several fronts, with the clement autumn weather being just
about the only highlight.
This year saw the event migrate from East London to North – and with the change of venue came a change in terrain. That the course was described as flat turned out to be somewhat misleading.
Those who had taken part in previous editions of this event around east London's flat-as-a-pancake Victoria Park and who were not unreasonably expecting a similar deal,
were in for something of a shock; your correspondent was far from the only one who'd had no idea of the hills lurking
within Finsbury Park.
However, it was a challenge that was risen to by most, and indeed the inclines served to punctuate an otherwise dull two-lap route that took runners three-quarters of the way around the park and back.
In terms of logistics, the toilets (not nearly enough for the 1,000+ competitors) and the bag drop (epic queues) let the organisers down somewhat. And few were over the moon with the lacklustre goody bags, which contained neither a medal nor T-shirt for their £15 entry fee.
