My Forum

I'm not having a go at the organisers for having a no headphones rule, rather from not making it clear from the start when you book your place in the race. That should be clear.

Glad to hear they weren't enforcing it though. So many people like to run with music that it seems unrealistic to ask people in large, fun HMs like this not to wear them. I do think that people need to take some responsibility for themselves, and that includes being aware of what's around them and being able to hear instructions. I try to deal with that by only having one headphone on, others may prefer to have the volume low.

I'm still grumpy that I didn't get to run. Even in the arrocious weather.

The headphones issue was a moot point in the end. I couldn't run due to a knee injury (which came up while I was tapering, annoyingly!)

How did people find it? Some friends who ran it said that, weather issues aside, there were some irritating bottle necks (one quite soon after the start before there had been much chance to thin out), but otherwise it was good.

Not very impressed. The latest email from the HM organisers emphasises that no headphones are allowed during the race. I went through the website and Ts&Cs before I booked a place to check whether headphones were allowed. I gather it's in the race pack I got a couple of weeks ago, but I'd missed it.

I know this is a hot topic amoung runners, so I don't want to start a big debate!

I've only run one HM before (the Peterborough one in October which Harry Napir mentioned), and I had a single earbud in for that. I understand that you need additional awareness in a race and need to hear marshalls, so I don't want to cut myself off. However I like running with music, and think I'd enjoy it less without.

Did anyone here run this race last year? Was the headphone rule enforced, or are they just covering their backs?

I found this thread late, but I had similar issues leading up to my first HM last week (Great Eastern Run in Peterborough). I was reluctant to back out, since I'd been training a lot and was very motivated, but was worried about causing more damage.

In the end I tapered more than I planned in the last fortnight, and did lots of swimming and core exercises instead of running.

I was fine on the day, but the 1 hour drive made my knee hurt again. In the end I stopped feeling any ache in my knee after a few miles and ran the whole thing. My knee hasn't hurt much this week, though that may be because my thighs are hurting so much I'm not noticing any knee pain!

I'll now take it slow and concentrate on running without pain, before I attempt another HM next spring.

I got notification that registration opened for this yesterday. It's on Sunday 10 March 2013.

Sold out in 8 days last year, though it looks like there are 4500 places this year vs 3000 last year.

I saw some complaints about the organisation (lack of loos) and route last year. They say they've tired to address some of the issues, so I'm hoping it's better.

http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/cambridge-half-marathon.php