Road to London 2009

[El Gordo]

Reading is horribly expensive, agreed. It's £28 in 2009, and you have to buy your teeshirt for another £12 (though Reading shirts are among the best I've come across). If it was 50 miles away, I probably wouldn't consider it but it's my local big race, and I feel drawn to it. I also think it's a really good event -- if you like that sort of thing.

There's undoubtedly something more satisfying about the thought of rustic, wind-blown battles with the hills... but the fact is there aren't many of those happening around here. In Swederland, there's an endless string of hills and an endless string of races of all distances, to go with them. Berkshire seems to be village 10K territory, with a couple of high profile spring halfs. Maybe if I ever changed my life enough to become a better runner, I'd head for the hills -- even if I had to travel. Just now though I quite like the well-attended town races where I see enough specimens at the same level as me to feel comfortable.