It was another Sunday of perfect weather with the temperature being exactly right, although the wind was a bit blowy on the coast it had a cooling chill to it which helped keep the sun in check, all the same it was a day for a bit of sun block.
A quick mention to all of you involved in the Brighton marathon - either helping, volunteering, or indeed those (too many to mention) that were running it - Very well done to you all - from what I've seen it was a great day for a coastal run !
Here are the links for the weekends race galleries:
NB all the races including the 1k and 5k were all photographed at Bournemouth - so there is some overlap in race numbers from the 1k fun run race, the gallery still has them all on there.
| Race | Gallery Link |
 Bournemouth Bay Runs |
http://bit.ly/Bournemouth-Bay-Gallery-2015 |
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http://bit.ly/HONC-2015-Official-Photo-Gallery |
Without going into more detail than necessary - some of the runners at Bournemouth Bay Run 10k missed the turning to go up the right zig-zag at Southbourne Overcliff Drive, and instead went up to the next one - a further mile along, resulting in another 2miles (3.1km) being run - making it a 13k race. There's been a bit of press and a bit of a social media stormy thing blowing over.
It's been said it was a marshalling error (apparently the Marshal went missing - call of nature or otherwise), which is as human an error as there can be, but lets not forget this is not the first, nor the last time a race will not hit the perfect distance and there will be route mistakes.
I can list at least five well known races that have all suffered the same type of problem - lead bikes going the wrong way, the wrong lamp-post or telegraph pole being used as a reference for turn signage, lead runners taking things into their own hands (wrongly), and indeed marshals sending people the wrong way even if they are in the right place.
Interestingly it is people aiming for a PB, or those who have only just built up to a distance that find these things the most stressful - for the fast runners - going out at race pace for 6miles is considerably overcooking things for an 8mile race, and likewise - if the furthest you had run before was a 5k park run - you are going to suffer when it turns into a 13.1km distance. It is however the first time I've seen people swearing, tearing and throwing off their numbers and timing chips before the finish mat, and generally misbehaving. Those individuals didn't impress anyone.
On the bright side - there is nothing quite like being denied your race distance if it is too short !. As this was too long if you are running for charity and have promised to do a 10k - you have delivered OVER the distance with 13.1km - means you should be going back to all your sponsors and trying to get an additional 30% off them !! and it is very much deserved !
My understanding is that it all stems from the building works on the promenade over-running meaning that the start finish had to be somewhere else, and that in turn meant the marshalling had to be different, and on top of that it was all changed again at the very last minute - making it very very difficult to ensure 100% of volunteers (remember not everyone reads the internet or emails even just once a day) all knew what was going on an why...
To show how random these problems are, the Half marathon went off without a hitch (except where all the 13k runners had drunk their water at the far end of the course!) so overall the organisation was as good as these things can be - although I'm sure there is always more that can be done.
So, now for all you charity fund raisers - get your photographic evidence so you can get that extra 30% and didn't give up in real challenge !! And please if you only got to run 10k, no you're not getting a refund for not having 30% extra in your race entry either... I'm sure the world of BOGOF race distances at the same race is still a long way off...
Half, 10k, 13k, 5k and the 1k fun run photos are all up on the gallery.
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| The 10k start |
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| Dad, not going fast enough, as per usual I'm told... |
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| Win for the Half |
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| Solid win for the Half |
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| Nice day for a 10k |
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| The view with the Bay behind in the blue sky |
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| All going ok at the Half |
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| very happy so far even up the steep hill |
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| Strong finishing with 200m to go at the finish |
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| Mike checks that Seb is still concentrating |
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| Along the undercliff routes with the beach huts |
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| Thumbs up to the friends and supporters - all ok at the end of the 10k |
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| The friendly supportive "hug, slow them down and overtake on the line" technique |
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| For the win !! |
And - don't forget the Lewes 10k and fun run gallery from the Easter Weekend either : http://bit.ly/Lewes-10k-Gallery-2015
And onto next weekend... here are the galleries - and there are links to the race websites on there
| Race | Gallery Link |
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http://bit.ly/7Oaks-tri-2015-gallery |
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http://bit.ly/Clandon-Park-Run-2015-Gallery |
Warrior Run
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http://bit.ly/Warrior-Run-1-Gallery-2015 |
Until next time, and don't get sunburnt
Anthony
Anthony
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