This was the first time I had taken part in this event, and I was asked by the event organisors, Human Race, to be  pacer for the 16.2 mile run. There are three distances on offer on the day, 8.2, 16.2 and 20.1 miles, the latter two distances being ideal for those preparing for spring marathons.

Reporting for duty at 07.15am meant a very early start for myself, a 2 hour trip from home, which was made a little more difficult when I remembered mid way through the week leading up to the day that the clocks were moving forward!

After being issued with our t-shirts and pacer flags, I had a little time to kill, the 20.1 mile runners were to start first at 8am, so a coffee with fellow pacer Paul Addicott and his family was very welcome as it was a bit chilly that early in the day. At 08.30am the 8.2 and 16.2 mile runners were on the start line and ready to go. we went off in well staged waves, lead by the pacers running even mile splits from 8min per mile to 12 mins. I was doing the 11 min pace so had a short wait to lead off my group.

The course was a two lap, 8.1 mile loop, croosing the River Thames twice at Kingston and Hampton, and passing through Kingston centre and past Hampton Court Palace. For most of the way the route was off road, but there were a few areas where we were running on open roads with live traffic, but on the whole safety was foremost and plentifull marshalls kept runners and traffic apart. Just one rather tricky area under a road bridge where the path was very narrow and required runners to pass in single file caused some issues, but this quickly opened up again and the bootlenecks eased.

At the completion of the first lap, the 8.2 mile runners crossed the finish line whilst the 16.2 mile runners, who had now been joined with some of the later 20.1 mile runners, continued out for a second loop.

There were aid stations positioned at 3 points on each loop offering water and energy drinks, in cups which isn't always the easiest to drink from whilst running, and also SIS gels on offer if needed. First aid cover was offered through medics on bikes at regular intervals, and thankfully I did not see any of them being asked to attand runners.

On completion of the runs, a specailly commisioned finishers mug was handed to you as soon as you crossed the chip timimg mat, I heard afterwards that some runners did not get a mug as the organisors had not ordered enough to cover the amount of runners, but to their credit they promised to send them out to anybody who missed out. We were also presented with a fantatsic, tote shopping bag filled with loads of goodies from race sponsors Lidl supermarkets.

After a chilly start, the weather was perfect for running, and it was really enjoyable running along the Thames in the sunshine, well before most people had even thought about getting out of bed and celebrating Mothers Day. Certainly one for the list for 2018.