On Sunday 25th July, 2021, the first major mass participation running event took place in London. When I was offered a place to run the ASICS London 10km, I felt like I couldn’t miss this opportunity.
Formerly known as the British 10km, I’ve run this event a number of times – of which I documented the 2012 event and the 2013 event here on the blog. In fact, the 2012 event was my first ever 10k event!
When I signed up for this event, I had imagined I would be running consistently and 10km would be a good test of my training progress. However, that wasn’t quite the case, but I’m happy to report, I still got the work done.
How To Prepare For Your Race
It has been so long since I’ve been to an event, I actually used my own 6 day race prep guide to get organised for the ASICS London 10k. This made sure I charged my GPS, checked the weather for event day, planned my route and packed everything I would need.
In order to save myself time and reduce contact with other people, I chose not to use the bag drop and packed the few items I needed in my Osprey Kitsuma 1.5 (find similar here*) with a hydration reservoir. Although it worked well, the Kitsuma probably wasn’t the best option for running, but it was all I had.
Things to do before the evenT
Due to the pandemic, there were a couple extra things each runner needed to do before the event. They were:
- a lateral flow test to be undertaken in 24hours before event
- a health declaration form to be completed online
Starting The ASICS London 10k
According to the race pack, there were a few options to getting to the start line from various stations. On the morning, I was unsure if I was going to run (due to injury) so by the time I decided to go for it, I was running pretty late.
This meant I went to the tube station right by the start line (Green Park) and fortunately could access the start right there. This meant I started the race within about 5 minutes of getting off the tube.
There were no crowds by the time I got there, so we walked to the start, hit start on our GPS watches and were off! Unlike previous years, there was a much longer start window which helped to reduce the crowds.
Running 10k in London
According to the race results, 7927 runners finished the event but at no point did it feel crowded or was I forced to be too close to others.
There were so many bands / charity groups on the sidelines playing music and dancing which helped to create a great race atmosphere along with spectators.
Although the weather forecast threatened rain all week, on the morning, it stayed dry but so very hot and humid. Taking my own hydration turned out to be the best decision I made as the first water station was around 6-7km and by 3km I was parched.
The Finish Line Sprint
Around the 1km remaining mark, I started chatting to a lady who was walking. We got chatting and she said she was planning to start running again once we hit the roundabout after the out and back towards Victoria. It sounded like a good plan, so I followed along.
At that point, there was a sign saying 0.1km to go… so we decided to run as fast as we could… turned to corner to realise there was no way that sign was accurate!
I kept going though, and even managed to full out a sprint (for me) finish! Check it out on the video above… that’s me coming towards the finish on the left hand side of the screen.
The Post Race Experience
The finish line felt pretty much like previous years. As I opted for no race tee – I was funnelled to one side for a specific goody bag filled with drinks, snacks and my medal. I met up with Sabine who I ran with, along with some other friends and we headed off to find some cake and coffee.
I think that was the best part of the event – running with friends and being able to hang out afterwards. It was a little ray of hope for the future…
Have you returned to racing yet?!
Elle
You can find details about entry to the 2022 ASICS London 10km here.
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