After much anticipation, we touched down in Manchester for a quick afternoon, wandered the city for a bit, and then boarded a train to Liverpool the next morning. Despite the tragedy that struck just a day or so earlier, we found a lot of love and beauty in the city:
The next morning, we boarded a train to Liverpool. We made it to the expo after enjoying the scenic route. The costumes at this expo were much more exciting than others, because obviously THE BEATLES:
I mean, seriously, why do I even run if this coat is going to make me look fat?
Maybe the glasses will distract you!
So, I signed up for the remix challenge, which includes two days of running, a 5K and a half marathon. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I’ve been working on my speed a bit, so I thought that it’d be a good idea to use the 5K as a fitness test.
Well, things did not go quite as planned for the 5K. They mostly did, but I was really thirsty!
I looked at the map but failed to look for water stations. I assumed there would be some, but none were supplied. I didn’t drink much fluids beforehand after waking up because I had caught a cold upon landing in Manchester. I started the race thirsty, and with a PR in mind I was pretty much dying about a quarter mile in. I kept going and crossed the finish line with my second best 5K time (32:01), albeit 6 years behind my PR (27:11 in 2011). I was pretty much over the moon. I wonder if I could’ve done better if I had water, a better corral, and a lack of head cold. Should I try a smaller race? Maybe practice a few time trials on the track next door? Until then I’ll take my second best 5K time.
The finish line was strobe light-tastic inside the arena, complete with a fog machine and loud music. It was also insanely hot, and for anyone who put forth a race effort, I’m sure it felt like someone wrapped a hot, heavy, humid victory blanket around them. Afterwards, we headed to a local eatery, the Brunswick Brunch Cafe, for breakfast. It was so good!
The second day, we lined up for the big race. In my case it was the half marathon, and in Erik’s case it was his full marathon.
My last half was in Nashville, which was fairly disastrous, given the weather circumstances. I had peeked at the course map and heard a bit about the quirky way they managed hydration on this course, so I wasn’t too worried. Again, I got it allllllll wrong. There was headwind from every direction, even for some reason when we were running in between buildings.
This race boasted almost 50 bands along the course, and because of this I didn’t run with earphones. They certainly didn’t disappoint! I remember a fair amount of them being cover bands, or at least playing covers of The Beatles. The crowd support was also amazing, especially in the park and in the city. There were lots of community love, which was great.
The last three or four miles of the race was brick-laid waterfront boardwalk, which was very difficult to run on. At every electrolyte station, they were all out of Gatorade (or their European equivalent). They hand out full bottles over there, and most people took a few sips and then tossed them on the floor. I was so thirsty that I eyed the mostly full bottles, but then ignored them and continued on my way. I was already really sick with a pretty bad cold. How much worse could it get, right?
I slogged through as best as I could and made it to the finish line, excited to collect my medals and my grub. I was pretty sore and tired, almost along the lines of Nashville in absence of the heat, which I thought was really uncharacteristic. I did have a cold and technically I was dealing with a time zone difference too. Maybe the next time I try to PR, I try to do it in my home country or I spend more time adjusting my sleep or not getting sick. 🙂
I finally got my first remix medal and I’m in love with them. How awesome are they?! They are a bit larger than I thought they would be, but still really nice. I can’t wait to collect more in Seattle, Virginia Beach, San Jose, Denver, and Savannah.
Overall, it was a significant amount of swag and bling for 16.2 miles of running.
Here are some videos from the weekend in general. A race shout-out from our tour guide, the day before the race:
One of the bands along the course:
A few minutes later, I passed the runners who just started the full marathon. Why they had a 1-hour later start than us completely confused me:
Erik’s glorious finish:
I’d love to come back and run this course again. With a little more preparation I think I could do a lot better and also see more of the sights of Liverpool before and after the race!
Amara in Training 