The Vitality Big London Half Marathon 2020

When Victa a charity that helps and supports Blind Children and Young Adults the opportunity to run at this incredible event, we seized the opportunity.

Our plans are to represent Victa at the Manchester and London Marathons in April so its awesome that this race was added to our list.

So we left windy Blackpool for the capital city on Saturday morning so that we can check out the course and starting places etc. We decided to drive down as we had to be back for work on the Monday so needed to leave London straight after the race.

So we landed at Wembley Travelodge on the North Circular Rd just before lunchtime, we had been told that we could park our car there for a few days for the bargain price of just £8 per day and it was very safe and secure..

We ventured out to find the nearest tube station to see how long it would take us to get to the center of London as I didnt want to miss the start of the race..

We stumbled upon Ace Cafe London, now this place is the Mecca for people who love anything on wheels..

We already decided that we would be eating here in the evening.

Into London by tube and we became London tourists and pounded the streets looking at the wonderful sights that our capital city has to offer, in hindsight and thats a wonderful thing, not quite the best move if you are running distance the next day..we should be RESTING..! But…

So we returned to Ace Cafe for our evening meal, we decided on Ribs and a Knickerbocker Glory..Well we could justify it as we were running the next day.

So we were up early the next morning,changed and out by 630am, we needed to arrive at Tower Bridge early to drop our bags off and get to the start. I have to say that it was very well organised, lots of toilets, friendly staff to guide you, and the weather was magnificent,slightly cold but no complaints..

So to the race itself, having competed in the 2018 and 2019 Virgin London Marathons I was really looking forward to an easier run..erm wrong, it was quite tricky and I didn’t expect cobbles that absolute destroyed my feet and knees, I underestimated it completely with my fueling (Schoolboy error) but it was fine, I really enjoyed this run, the 1 mile or so stretch Tunnel was a very unique experience and I really enjoyed bombing down and past lots of runners in that section. After leaving the tunnel we headed right to what is the metropolis of Canary Wharf..