GNR and beyond

As a first time 1/2 Marathon runner who trained just for this event and completed in what I feel was reasonable time.
The question that now comes into my mind is what next?
As many others in my position must be thinking.
Is there any other target to aim for as big as this race
Any ideas out there

See Arace for us to all meet at
More halfs next year

Scuba

More halfs in which you can try to improve your times. Runs which are more than 13.1 miles e.g. The Dent Brewery run which is about 14 and probably a bit of a tougher course. Ultimately a marathon and then further if you so wish. There's loads out there for you to aim for. If this is your first half marathon then it's the beginning not the end.

I just did my first half recently too. I'm toying with the idea of the Brighton 10k to get up some speed and then the Salisbury half in March. If you live "up North" then there are a couple of other races being discussed on "A race for all of us to meet" which might be closer to your home.

Anyway, enjoy your running!

First all, congratulations on completing the GNR, Scuba! Your obvious options are running faster and further - personally I'm concentrating on the faster at the moment. There are plenty of races to enter and URWFRC members popping up in most of them, so they should be fun. And races could quickly become addictive, too.

A large number of people seem to enter the FLM and nothing else - seems the same may be true of the GNR.

In fact, there are hundreds of other smaller races around the country throughout the year, all as worthy of support as these large events.

The ones with only 150 runners need supporting more than the large ones, as this is where the grass roots of running lie, without which the sport would the much poorer.

Next time Nike or someone similiar put on an event which clashes with a small local run, give the latter a try, and you may well be rewarded.

Snoop - I’m with you on that – I’m the race director for the Derwentside 10, listed as the 2nd hardest 10 miler in Britain this year we ended up with the weekend before the GNR so this puts people off running a hard race this close to the GNR but all those that took part seemed to enjoy the ‘challenge’ of the race

And on top of that – with there being a small turn out (less than 70 this year) half of those taking part seemed to get a prize in some category or anther.

So go out there and support your local race

Will

I did the Derwent last year and it was superb.

there are lots of brilliant halfs (halves?) all over the country. I find Liverpool excellent and also the four villages half near Chester which has the distinction of being in January so it is always good for the first run in shorts in the year.

there are also good autumnal ones in Worksop, Clowne.

several good staffordshire 20 milers in february and March also. Sounds like loads of opportunities for a meet

Thanks to you all for replying this was my first post and the reponse is great.

I did a number of 10K races building up to the GNR all localise to my Manchester/Hyde base

Benz I will look at that posting and pick up any near to me, other halfs suggested include the wilmslow 1/2? anybodt been on that, somebody said that it was off road and you needed to come in under a certain time ?

Bobolink, thanks will treat this as a start, at christmas when I changed from armchair to running, 1 lamp post at a time, the GNR seemed impossible, perhaps even a marathon is possible know, is FLR the one to aim for? not next but year after?

Daisy Dog yep I do live up north though there seem to be some meetingsd listed in the posting may see others up there, I have sent off for the top.

Tep would be nice to meet other runners from outside usual own crowd, further seems more of an attraction than faster at the moment, the running could become addictive, these forums are additictive, I have just blown my dinner hour coasting

Snoop Dogg you may have a point there but do these smaller events welcome non club runners ?, how do I find out about the local small events in my area? as being small will not be able to push like bigger races. I would love to support the local races, lower entry fees, no hotel costs, different challenges sounds great.

I think that one of the things that puts people off the smaller runs, especially the newer runners, is they think that the standard of runners will be too high, leaving them languishing at the back. Having run a few smaller events myself, this isn't normally the case. It is always worth checking on the run websites, if thet have one, because they often have previous years results, which can make you feel a lot more confident.

Scuba
That's just about how I started two years ago. The FLM is obviously the most well known one but there are others up and down the country. The best way of finding out about runs is by checking the schedules on here or looking in the RW mag every month.
Baz is right about about the smaller races. There are runners of all ages, styles and levels. Some of the annual runs have been taking place for many years and are good to do and some of them like Derwent and Consiton are in beautful scenery and quite challenging. Welcome !

Agree about the attraction of smaller races, no queues, turn up at the last minute, low entry fees etc. However it's true they can be dominated by club runners/faster runners, or have a strange results distribution curve, this is inevitable in a smaller race and noone will look down on you for coming last. Speaking as someone who did come second to last in my first ever local 10K, only your own fear can stop you participating.

BTW, around Derwent water 10 mile race coming up on 3rd november, is that the one you meant Bobolink?