One fine day I'm gonna be the one

[venta]

Yesterday, quite early on, there were sums going on in our house. Let's see, 9 o'clock, one and half miles, say five minutes a mile absolute tops...

Just before 9.10 we were in the road outside, ready to cheer on those running in the Ealing half-marathon.

Last year, we thought we'd stir ourselves to watch the half marathon since it goes literally in front of our flat. Actually it turned out to be a hugely fun community event and - despite neither of us having the least interest in watching any kind of athletics in the general case - we walked along chunks of the route to the finish.

It's not a high-profile race. Anyone can enter, and the standard is hugely variable. People run in club shirts, charity shirts, hi-tech running shirts and ordinary t-shirts. They wear hats or turbans or wigs or hijab. It's not a destination event for big-name runners.

Mo Farah polished off the Great North Run in 59-minutes-something this year, the outright winner in Ealing took a still-impressive 65. A colleague of ChrisC's claims the Ealing race is unpopular, because it is a wiggly route with too many corners. But the corners are where people gather to spot their friends and cheer for strangers.

At one and a half miles, the runners were still quite closely packed. There was a clear leader, an early register-er with the lowest number we spotted: 10. Towards the back, a few people were already slowing to a walk. Not quite at the back was our favourite runner from last year, a rhino. In between were people in tutus, people with determined expressions, people pushing wheel- or pushchairs as they ran, and people who gestured to the cloud to cheer and clap louder.

Again, we were caught up in it and headed down past sections of the route to the finish. We got ahead of the runners, and paused to wait around mile 11. The race motorbike came through, then the push bikes checking the route was clear. An ambulance pulled up, but it was just hanging around in case anyone fancied it.

Then came green shirt guy, number 10, looking in very good shape. Then.... Nowt. Big empty space. Then some random cyclists who were just chancing it down the closed road. Then a bit more nothing. And then, in the far distance, a few more people. Let's just say Mr 10's victory was convincing.

I hope people cheered him over the line. When he was finishing, we were probably in the little snaggle of residential streets by the last water station. A gang of under-tens were spotting anyone with a name on their shirt and yelling for all they were worth... "Come on, Mike! Come on, Mike! Kev-in, Kev-in, Ran-deep, Ran-deep! Go, Nicola..."

We made it down to the finish around the time the hundred-minute pacemakers - giant "1:40" flags strapped to their backs - came into view. There were flag bearers setting the pace at ten minute intervals; in between, the local club (Ealing Eagles) had unofficial-looking sticks marking the five-minute intervals. Earlier, we'd seen Mr 1:35 running along, holding both his placard-on-a-stick anda conversation.

On the finishing straight, some people had enough left for a sprint finish, some people jumped and played to the gallery. Some limped in, with pained expressions that suggested they probably should have pulled out. A couple ran in, arms round each other, having clearly done the whole thing three-legged. And plodding along, in his huge and cumbersome costume, came the rhino. Massive cheer for the rhino.

And people crossed the line, and got their medals and their free, err, coconut marshmallows, rather oddly. And then they joined the huge festival crowd in Lammas Park, eating burgers and stretching hamstrings in equal measure.

Last year, I decided I'd like to run in this year's event. Then I realised how much time it'd take me to train, and backed off. Again, this year, I found I wanted to join in. Not because I want to run a half marathon particularly, but because I want to be part of this amazing event in my doorstep. But do I want to do it enough to give up that amount of time to training? Tune in next year...

Comments

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

I just looked at the route map - the first 5 miles make my legs hurt just thinking about them. :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Having moved here from Oxford, Ealing is surprisingly hilly :) I'm lucky that walking up inclines doesn't really bother me, but running turns out to be an excellentto locate previously undetected hills!

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

The fact that it passes my grandparents' old house on Hillcrest Road is the main clue for me. ;-) I've walked between there and Hanger Lane or Pitshanger too many times to not notice those hills!

We used to roll down the hills in Hanger Hill park and then complain bitterly about having to climb back up them again. Which never stopped us doing it again the moment we got back to the top. :D

[venta.livejournal.com]

"Hillcrest Road".... Clue's in the name, there :) my usual running route starts my flat (by St Benedict's) and goes up towards Hanger Hill park, thus ensuring I am knackered more or less before I start.

[shermarama]

How much do you run at the moment? I'm training for the Amsterdam half at the moment and it doesn't require *that* much training, or not compared to a full one. The Amsterdam one also has a surprisingly fun community feel as well, even though it goes with a full marathon with Names in it - people get out on the streets, set up play (except also real) water stations with their kids, clap and encourage and shout the names on the bibs; the bit between 3k and 1k out from the finish, roughly, is through Amsterdam's biggest park, and the people there are especially cheery and supportive. I'm looking forward to it.

(Also, '...to make you understand, woah, yeah, I'm going to be your man'. Is that one of those that's best not examined too closely?)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well, on Saturday morning I set out for my normal run but elected to follow the race route signs... I managed just under three miles before stopping. I used to run further, but I barely run once a week now.

Training plans I looked at seemed to reckon running 3-4 times a week, which ain't gonna happen.

(One kudo to you. And yes, probably!)

[shermarama]

Yeah, fair enough. The plan I'm notionally following demands running four times a week, but two of those are only 5ks, which in the past I've found ways to wedge into working days without too much faff - running for part of a commute, for example. The other weekday one is an 8k, though, which always seems like a higher hurdle somehow.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of running part of my commute, but for various logistical reasons I have to have my laptop with me most days. And that would be just too heavy/bulky a bag to want to run with (for me).

Running all the way home would be great, but that would be nearly a half marathon :)

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I watched my mother in a lot of races. However, that wasn't as fun because we always had to travel to do so and there was a great deal of waiting around.

The only race I got involved with was Hyde Park (three times). Two-and-a-half miles was my sort of distance (and about twenty years ago I did respectably, believe it or not :-) ).

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes, I imagine the one-offness is part of the reason I enjoy it!

[lnr]

This post keeps ear-worming me :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Weirdly, every time I see the title I start singing "One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl", which isn't even the right song!