Race Date: 19.9.2010
Official Finishing Time: 1:33:17 chip time (PB)
Official Overall Position: 968/39437 (finishers), which puts me in the fastest 2.45%
Age Group and Gender Position: 477/9739 (finishers), which puts me in the fastest 4.9%
Race number: 55275

This was an interesting run for me as I lived in Gateshead for a couple of years and know Newcastle reasonably well. When I was still living there I remember when the GNR was on, in fact I was doing some running back then as well, but I had no interest in racing. Times have changed, and now I found myself in the top 1000 of the GNR — quite pleased with that result! A funny coincidence: this was the 30th Great North Run, and I also ran the 30th Helsinki City Marathon this year (race report here).

Before the Race
I took the special morning train from Durham to Newcastle. It was absolutely packed, not very comfortable. That left me well over two hours to kill in the rainy Newcastle. As it turned out, I had some use for the time, since I had forgotten my race number home! So I went to the info point, and fortunately I got a brand new number in the same starting pen (Orange Zone B). I left my bag in one of the baggage buses, which were quite well organized. Then I had a little warmup in Exhibition Park, where the Newcastle Parkrun also takes place, and headed to the starting area. I was there in good time, but the Orange Zone B was already overcrowded and they closed the gate just in front of me. By the looks of it there were plenty of runners who should’ve been in the lower starting pens — thanks a lot! By that time, they were starting to close the other starting pens too. Myself and a bunch of others managed to squeeze in through a loose fence around the Orange Zone D, which was two zones below mine. It looked like I would have a lot of overtaking to do…

The Race
It took me nearly 10 minutes to get to the starting line, and I was feeling rather irritated by all the trouble. But I set off hoping that the road would clear out after 5-10k at least. That was not to be. I must’ve overtaken thousands of people — running on grass, mud, uneven paths next to the road, zigzagging my way through. It didn’t help that those who decided to start walking after the first mile showed no intention of looking out for runners coming from behind. It wasn’t until mile 10 that the road started to clear out a little bit, but I kept overtaking people all the way to the finish line. The first 10k took me a couple of minutes more than I had hoped, but I was just about at my mininum target pace, sub 1:35h, at the half way point. Fortunately I managed to catch up a little bit on the second half (as you can see from the splits below). I got a stitch on the last mile, which killed my finishing sprint a bit, but it was a fairly strong finish anyway. Luckily things were organized quite well at the finish, and I got my bag quickly. The running conditions were pretty good, although the grey sky wasn’t particularly inspirational. At least it wasn’t too hot.

Splits (from Garmin):
5k 22:17
10k 22:32 (44:49 total)
15k 21:30 (1:06:19 total)
20k 21:31 (1:27:50 total)
Total: 21.31k in 1:33:18

Analysis
I was looking to get sub 1:35h, although a couple of months ago I was still dreaming of sub 1:30h. Well, that was never on today, but at least I managed the secondary target quite comfortably. Given that I spent a lot of energy in the zigzagging and overtaking people, I think I could’ve shaved a minute or two off in better conditions. In fact, I should’ve indicated an expected finishing time of sub 1:30h in the entry form, as that would’ve given me a place in Zone A, the starting pen for fast club runners and elite runners. It’s also worth noting that my average heart rate was 168bpm (87% of max), whereas I ran my previous half marathon at Keswick (race report here) with an average HR of 173bpm. That indicates that I could’ve ran a bit faster today. Anyway, this was a PB by over 4 minutes compared to my time at Keswick, so I should be happy enough. I do fancy having a go at sub 1:30h though, perhaps even before the year is over if I find a suitable race.

By the way, it was Haile Gebrselassie who won the race, in 59:33. He was the only one to go under 60min!

Official results here.
Garmin data here.