Race date:  Monday 27^th May 2019

Bank Holiday Monday saw this popular race round the sights of London; Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s, the Bank of England, Downing Street, …  The race starts on The Mall (yes, that one), takes in the Strand (home of the Australian High Commission, no less) and close to the Bailey (ie the Old one – pop in for a quick sentence?).  You then wend your way back to the Palace along the delightful Birdcage Walk to finish close to the really big fountain and cheering hordes.

Race day dawned a bit chilly but dry; the sun put in an appearance and the temperature rose making the run warmish – prompting the usual runner clothing readjustments.

The delightful greenery was a wonder to behold; trees everywhere resplendent with blooms and as it turned out, bucketloads of pollen.  In my case this produced coughing, crying and sneezing sometimes all at the same time; I was not alone!

The spectators along the route were great in number, voice and enthusiasm.  I heard the club’s name shouted out a good few times – thank the Club running vest for that.  Interestingly, most runners seemed to be without any Club kit so perhaps the novelty inspired the shouting.

I participated in the race using one of the free places generously given to the Club; a big thank you to all who made that possible.

19,465 runners finished the course with a chap called Mo Farah coming in first at an blistering 00:28:15.  The first woman home was Stephanie Twell in 00:31:55.

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