Big-Hearted Lifers

Well done to the Charlton Lifers pictured here prior to yesterday's first London half-marathon (this was inside the Dome in the dry). From the thread I understand that everyone finished in spite of the weather and the shambolic organisation. Delmelza House will be the primary beneficiaries from the monies raised.

The Run to the Beat organisers are taking a pasting in the running press and even the comments on their own website are far from complementary. In addition to the ridiculous decision for TFL to have continued engineering works during the night prior to the event, which over-ran (as seems usual) and caused a 45 minute delay to the race start, the marshalling was totally inadequate and there was no real public address system outside the Dome. The pre-planning of allocating colours to runners numbers to allow for a phased start with faster runners getting away first, was poorly managed in the holding areas and the start became a free-for-all.

All the pre-race hype about "inspirational music being played live throughout the course" was also a major disappointment in reality. I removed my headphones at each of the music staging posts but the fare was anything but inspirational. Several of the bands were missing and a number weren't actually playing when I passed, so I am really pleased I had my headphones. Dr Costa Karageorghis, the man with 20 years of research into the motivational effects of music on sporting performance called the event "a spectacular success" (he would, wouldn't he).

More worryingly for the more serious runners are the questions being asked over the length of the course. Those with GPS watches are reporting the actual distance as being closer to 13.5 miles than 13.1 which woud be a major faux pas if proven right.

At least we have had an early warning ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games. We have the ability here to make ourselves the laughing stock of the world if we get anywhere close to this poor showing on a world stage. Assuming the event recovers from the post-race criticism and becomes an annual event, we will get a number of attempts to get it right before the O2 plays it's part in 2012.