Great North Run, 10 Sep 2023

It was a very hot day to be doing a half marathon but I still had my sights set on a PB. Having to wait till 11am to start was long and I was getting more worried as it just kept getting hotter and sunnier and hotter and sunnier. I was very excited when I got into the starting pen - however, this slowly went away as I realised I had to stand there in the heat for an hour before I’d start.

Once I was off I was confident about my pace, probably because the first mile was in the shade. Then the sun hit, but for a while it wasn’t too bad as I was in a rhythm feeling good. I got to see the Red Arrows as I went over the Tyne Bridge (which was one positive about starting later than I’d expected as I thought I’d miss them) and there were huge crowds to spur me on.

As I got to around 5km my body started to show its first signs of weakness as my legs started to feel a bit jelly-like. Then I hit the first real incline and realised I wasn’t going to be able to keep running at the pace I was at. I tried to keep going for a while with a bit of walking and then getting back to the pace I’d set but I quickly realised I just needed to slow down completely. I saw some people collapsing and knew for safety reasons I’d be much better just to slow down and get to the end and not worry about the time.

The rest of the run was a mix of slight enjoyment, being boosted by high fives, and pain as my body really did not want to run. As I got to mile 12 where the crowds really started to pick up I found myself getting really quite emotional, with everyone shouting my name as I headed down towards the sea, because there were a lot of points during this race where I didn’t think I would finish.

Once I got to the end I felt horrible but was so glad I’d completed it, and I got to see the Red Arrows again which was very cool!

I must have enjoyed it a bit as I’ve signed up for next year already!

Jess Barrett-Drylie