Hyde Park Jog 2010

With a choice of 5K (one lap) or 10K (two laps) around the stunning Serpentine Lake in central London’s Hyde Park, this race was the ideal distance for fun-runners or slightly more serious competitors. Starting at 6.15pm, it also made for a great post-work event.My first ever race, 5K seemed like the ideal distance to ease myself into the running season and I don’t think I could have managed two laps. But for anyone wishing to push themselves that little bit further, the circuit round Hyde Park made for a very pleasant route and if it weren’t for my beginner’s legs I’d happily have revisited the sites a second time round!

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The Women’s Running girls arrived with plenty of time to watch the proceedings, and the pre-race buzz was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. There were people of all ages, shapes and sizes, although there did seem to more of an after-office feel to the crowd, and also a reassuringly high number of lady runners.We started with a mass group warm-up at the bandstand on Serpentine Road at 6pm with the hilarious Mario from Fitness First, and were all set for a 6.15pm start. Although getting across the start line was a bit of a stampede, it was a friendly and relaxed crowd, with the expected split between serious time bandits, beginners like me, and a few casual strollers.

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Road rage

The route was steady and even, following a path around the Serpentine Lake. The only obstacle was some rather aggressive city cyclists who were reluctant to take an ulterior route despite the obvious charity race, so I stuck to the left-hand side of the path.As the gun went off I tried to keep up with my colleagues Heidi (an athlete who competes in Iron Man events and triathlons) and Chris the magazine editor, so I started at a fairly fast pace, but it quickly became apparent that I would burn out fast if I tried to match their experienced strides, so I let them zoom off into the distance and completed the race alone at my own speed.

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Personal best

Fortunately there was lots of lovely scenery surrounding the lake to keep me amused, and I powered on through, enjoying the satisfaction of whizzing past more than a few chaps along the way. I quickly lost my sense of time so just kept going at my own pace, and was chuffed to discover at the finishing line that I was only a couple of minutes behind Heidi and Chris and completed the race in a satisfactory 28 minutes! Not bad for a beginner...This was a nice flat route and a good course for beginners or after-office fun with work colleagues, and has definitely given me the buzz to persevere with running. It was the perfect way to finish a hard day’s work and best of all I felt like I’d earned the large pizza and celebratory wine I greedily consumed afterwards with the girls.