Apologies for the bad form, but I'll just re-post a report I posted elsewhere on my half mara. Well done everyone on some stunning performances and on some, er, stunned ones too.....
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Excellent race, I thought, and a fascinating city. Not sure about the reasoning involved in lining up by race number rather than expected finish time, but it did have the happy side effect of keeping my mind on dodging round people (and trees, bikes, kerbs, tramlines etc) rather than on the pain . I was aiming for 1:45, a hint conservative pace-wise to allow for the inadequate training miles. I kept it on schedule, pushing on from 10 to 12K, paying for it between 12 and 15, but had the legs to hold on and nibble away a half-minute cushion for myself which I didn't need - PB! Hup Swerve!
Oh, and most importantly of all, I kicked Mrs Swerve's arse (figuratively)!
I thought the course was generally good, congestion apart, and though it was very sparse in places, the support in the north-eastern section in particular was good. I would add a big mention for the Vondelpark too - lots of spectators (nothing in London terms, but that would scare me), and a nice boost from all the greenery (there's something just nice about running in a park). After that, I remembered seeing the great Haile earlier on the big screen and in the stadium (what a privilege!) on his final run-in, and thought Ethiopian thoughts, so the last couple of K were fine too. And passing the stragglers in the marathon was a nice reminder of how glad I was to be doing the half.
Thoroughly recommended.
