Disappointingly, a little while after the event organisers sent out an update announcing the race wouldn't be returning to the city centre location which really made last year's race so special. After a torrent of negative social media posts, a further statement was released putting it down to Nottingham City Council rejecting all proposed routes and making it impossible. I'm still disappointed in NCC for that.
But with promises of excellent on-route support and a new start and finish at my beloved City Ground I decided to stick with it and still take part.
Race day crept up quickly as it always seems to do and I felt a bit unprepared as I've not managed as many long runs as I'd have liked but I was excited all the same and this was really fuelled by the race-day atmosphere as I milled around in the race village.
As we lined up on the start line, hundreds of us joining thousands of runners up and down the country wearing yellow ribbons in solidarity with Manchester and we all fell silent for a minute in memory of those who didn't make it home. I think that set a bit of a tone for the race really.
Setting off over the start line I was really wary of setting off too quick. I've done quite a few fast, short runs and needed to keep in mind that this was going to be my furthest run in a long while. The first couple of miles were fairly uneventful to be honest, there was good spectator support and a nice route. Heading up onto the Regatta lake at Holme Pierrepont I was a little apprehensive remembering the bloody awful wind from last time but luckily instead of awful headwind there was just quite a refreshing breeze.
As I got toward the 6km mark I was starting to struggle, my legs ached, my feet hurt and my breathing wasn't as nice and rhythmic as I'd have liked. I stopped for a bit of a walk to gather myself a bit. My endorphin fuelled mood start plummeting a bit when just as the right time two ladies from my running club came past and asked if I was ok. Using it to spur me on, I quickly fell into a nice rhythm with them and stayed with them until the last mile (at which point I hit a 5 mile PB, I'd like to add) but then for some reason as the metres ticked away I hit a wall again at about 9km.
I was finding it really hard, my legs were heavy and I had some weird pins and needles thing going on that I didn't like at all. After what had been a decent race so far I was bloody struggling.
Just under half a mile from the end of the race the crowds of spectators were thickening and one bloke on the side saw my yellow ribbon, must have noticed that I was struggling and shouted "come on get find the yellow in you!" and that was exactly what I needed to get me running again. My legs work, I had air in my lungs and I'm alive.
So running past the flags marking each of the last sets of 100 metres I thought of those affected by what happened in Manchester and used it to get me ever closer to the finish line. Then just when I thought I didn't have my usual sprint finish in my a familiar face in the crowd cheering me on gave me that last burst I needed, I bloody legged it over that line!!
Feeling quite emotional after the race, I hung around afterwards to cheer other racers over the line as spectators were invaluable to me. Clapped and cheered until the very last runner came back, all the while with a beaming smile on my face.
So all in all it was a great morning. Despite being displaced from the city centre and having a less interesting route than last year, I really enjoyed it. Well organised and great support from both other runners and the spectators, it shaped up for a good, if not slightly emotional morning.
Time came in at 1:02:34 which I'm really pleased with considering the walking and the lack of distance built into my training over the last few months. Let's see what the next race brings!
