Milton Keynes Winter Half Marathon
When: December 14th 2014
Where: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, UK
Course: 1 big loop of Milton Keynes & surrounding villages including Grand Union Canal towpath.
Other routes touched (walk): Grand Union Canal Towpath
Other routes touched (cycle): Hanslope Circular Ride, NCN 6, 51
Finish time: 1:57
When I signed up for the Milton Keynes Half I wasn't expecting much. The town has a reputation for not being very interesting and I assumed that its Half may be similar. I usually go for more local events and I signed up for this one mainly because there was nothing else interesting happening in December. October and November is peak running event season with a winter break before it picks up again in March and April.
The MK Winter Half turned out to be a really interesting route through the countryside surrounding the town. Its a relatively flat, single anticlockwise loop made up of mostly cycle paths and parks. It starts and ends next to the Grand Union canal in a small and (at the time) muddy field. I loved the route, especially the canal tow-paths and disused railway tracks. The Grand Union will be a familiar sight in my Growlerthon year as I'll be returing to it in January for the Ultra-Marathon then again in April to cycle the length of it.
Despite the flat course and run-friendly temprature, I was 10 minutes off my PB at the London Royal Parks 2 months earlier. The sleigh-ful of wine and a late night at the office Christmas Party 2 days before probably didn't help.
