Up and running
My daughter ran her first half marathon yesterday.
The Hackney Half Marathon was part of Hackney Moves, ‘an unforgettable weekend of sport, entertainment and celebration in vibrant East London’.
I was a bit surprised when Sophie took up running last year, but she seems to enjoy it and having entered the Hackney Half Marathon she followed a fairly rigid regime that culminated in a 17km training run a couple of weeks ago.
Yesterday's run started - and finished - at Hackney Marshes, an area of east London I’ve driven past many times but never explored on foot.
As advised by the organisers, we parked the car at Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford and followed the pop up signs to ‘Hackney Festival Village’ (a 30-minute walk) where 24,000 runners were gathering and limbering up ahead of the event.
Runners were assigned to one of eight groups and when we arrived at 9.15 the early runners had already set off.
Sophie was in the group that started at 10.15, so we watched them leave before walking to the eleven mile point - bordering Victoria Park - where we shouted encouragement ahead of the final, two-mile, stretch.
The Hackney Half Marathon is the largest half marathon in London and there were a lot of spectators - many of them families and friends - supporting the runners en route.
Pounding music occasionally competed with the cheers of the spectators, creating a noisy, vibrant atmosphere.
An app allowed us to track Sophie’s position so we knew where she was and what time she would reach the eleven mile point.
We then retraced our steps back to Hackney Marshes (which was shorter than the half marathon route) and got back in time to see her finish.
Impressively she was able to sprint the last few hundred yards and take a call on her phone from friends who were waiting at the finish line!
I, on the other hand, was absolutely knackered.
According to my wife’s Apple Watch, by the time we got back to the car she had walked 28,000 steps (approximately 11.5 miles), and as I was alongside her for every one of them I must have covered the same distance.
I can’t remember the last time I walked eleven miles. Thirty years, probably, and I won’t be doing it again any time soon.
Anyway, congrats to my daughter on her first half marathon. I’m biased, obviously, but great effort!
See also: Hackney Half 2025: ‘Lime bike plan’ and record demand as race reaches new heights (The Standard)
