Adidas City Runs: Shoreditch 10k 8.10.17

If you’d asked me a year ago what I’d be up to on this date I probably would’ve said I’d like to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon. Then if you’d asked me six months ago I probably would’ve said I wanted to volunteer / work at Royal Parks Half Marathon. Then along came Shoreditch 10k.

Now let’s be honest; whether we signed up or not, we all had reservations about how this event was gonna go down. First of all it was the same date as what felt like every other autumn race. And then many were hesitant to part with £40+ for a 10km.

But somehow I think everyone may be feeling a little different after the event and that FOMO (fear of missing out) may be kicking in. And to save me regaling every minute detail of the event I’m just gonna give it to ya straight (in the way I used to); the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Really Good Bits of The Shoreditch 10k

Well, my start wave was 915am so when I arrived at the race village at 845am and the toilet queues were ridiculously long I went and had a neck / shoulder massage from Elite Evolution. Of course I did.

So once I finished that and got dressed again (it’s now 907am), there were no queues for bag drop and I ran straight into the portaloo before running to the start line and catching the end of my wave as they got ready to start. Phew.

There were also plenty of portaloos on the course; I saw a set at least every km or so for the first three km. Then the first water station at 4km. Perfect.

Having not run 10km since The British 10km in July I really wasn’t sure how I would fare for this event. I started off running with friends Sharon and Ogechi and made it my goal to stick with Ogechi as she was running a pretty steady pace.

Well, my Suunto Spartan was telling me I was running under 6 minutes per km which I found hard to believe but y’know, I just kept going. And going. And going. I only stopped to walk at the 7km mark (at the water station) for about 30 seconds.

And I’m just gonna jump straight to the epic medal and race village here. There were plenty of photo opportunity spots but you know how the British like to queue so one would be empty while people queued half hour for another.

There was plenty going on too; competitions to win trainers, food stalls, a DJ …enough to warrant you hanging around as long as your stomach would allow before you needed a proper meal!

We decided to refuel at Pizza East as they were offering a 25% discount for runners that day; we ended up having a coffee across the road in Pret while we waited (around 25 minutes) and it was well worth it to not have to worry about heading home and cooking that afternoon.

The Not So Good Bits About The Shoreditch 10k

The sun came out as I crossed the finish line and silly me wore a long sleeved top underneath my race tshirt. It was about the same time that I realised I’d left my timing chip in my bag. Epic fail.

This is THE FIRST TIME in my racing history that I have ever done that but tbf it is 2017 and not many races use chips tied to your shoes. I’m used to them being in your bib which you kinda have to have on to be able to start the event.

So I don’t have an official time; I mean, it’s questionable whether I was there or not right?! But I know that Strava knows the truth.

Talking of proving I was at the event. The course photographers seemed to be condensed in the first km where it was so crowded I really don’t think they got decent pictures of many people, most definitely not of me.

Then I saw maybe two more photographers on the course and as the crowds didn’t really ease until about 8km I still don’t think they would’ve gotten a decent picture of me which is a shame as the race photos come as part of your entry fee (even if they are defaced with advertising when you download) so you kinda wanna make it worthwhile in that sense.

I did however make sure to pose for the photographer just before the finish line!

The course was a pretty windy route; although I know a ton of people ran PB’s I also know that they prob have a little more in there for when they don’t have to play dodgems with other runners and take so many corners.

I’m not a big fan of running on cobbles either so the section in the last 2km like that ended up with me running on the pavement to try and avoid injury.

Shoreditch 10k – The Ugly

The course was situated on the back roads of Shoreditch so this meant that many of them had speed bumps in place. With plenty of cars still parked on the course and lots of runners there was little or no option but to run over the speed bumps and this is where it got a little ugly.

One guy tripped and fell right next to me; I helped him up and he seemed alright, even carrying on running (we were only at the 4km mark). I then saw someone in the race village after the run who showed me the result of her own fall in what sounded like the very same place… scratched knees, bruised hands and torn tights being the result.

We finished the race and ended up in the busiest / most crowded finishers funnel ever. I think it was a combination of coming in at the same time as many other runners and the funnel being just a little too narrow.

We spent a good few minutes huddling through to grab a medal, some fancy water, regular water, cliff bar, jelly babies… yup, quite a handful. Would probably have been a good idea to pop it all in a goody bag and give it to people in one go.

All in all though, I had a great morning at the event. For the first ever Adidas City Run they did a pretty decent job.

Did you run the Shoreditch 10k?! What did you think of the event?! 

Elle