London Tree-athlon: Race report

The 5k London tree-athlon race was a great success. Great weather, great course, lots of competitors and a large crowd. In all a great success!!

As you will know, although The Fat Runner was training quite hard for this run, an injury last week meant that he wasn't able to compete. But his wife was running so he went down to support and was impressed and motivated by the large crowds and competitor field.

As this was the first 5k race which TFR has been to, there are a few thoughts he had which he'd like to share with other potential novice runners:

Firstly, there are a WIDE range of abilities. Sure, there were some people at the front of the race who were able to finish the 5k in less than 17 minutes, and there were some people who were finishing well after 40 minutes or more had passed.

Secondly, runner shapes are VERY deceptive. Once the top 20 or so athletes had gone past (who were all very trained, and very obviously so), the remainder of the field was very mixed. There were some people running 20 minute 5k's who were really quite wobbly, and equally some people who were taking 30-35 minutes looked to be extremely toned. It all goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover. It also goes to show that even if you do have a few wobbly bits, there's a very good chance that you'll be able to beat those people who look like they're very very fit (but in reality, might just be eating very little and getting very little exercise).

All in all, The Fat Runner was very disappointed not to have been able to take part, but is also more motivated than ever to get out running again once his leg has healed, and to find a 5k for late October!