The second running of this central London half marathon bought together from the London marathon events team. Having run it last year during the ‘Beast from the East’ I wanted to return and see if much had changed. I love big city events so these are normally my favourite type of races. All of the pre event communications via email are very useful and plenty of info is provided in advance together with your race pack including number and mandatory kit bag. Unfortunately it was a wet and very very day in London which always makes the start area more congested with runners waiting until the last minute to lose their bags. One issue I do have with this event is bag drop closes at 8.20, first wave is off at 9 with many not starting until well after 9.30. That is a long period to keep warm. The route starts off through Limehouse tunnel which is pretty dull but then takes in a loop of Canary Wharf which is well supported. The highlight is running over Tower Bridge also with good crowds but this year the wind was super strong making it pretty tough especially for the guy dressed in the Big Ben outfit! After Tower Bridge the route follows a similar pattern to the London Marathon working back towards a lovely finish directly alongside The Curry Sark. Large parts of this stretch are pretty boring with little support until the finish area. Once finished you do get a lovely unusual medal and goody bag including a nice technical t-shirt. Another downside is a very long walk to the bag trucks to collect your stuff again not great on a cold day, both years so far! The event finish area is a big part of this run with food, drink, sponsors, entertainment all creating an event village. Unfortunately, due to the bad weather this was all completely closed this year so it was just a case of funnelling through and heading to the pub or home. Having done this both years I am not sure I will do it again in a hurry, it’s quite expensive which I understand for central London but the route isn’t great and some of the logistics still need improving.