The Notts Robin Hood Half Marathon: Why I love it and why you should too

If you’ve been looking for a sign to run a half marathon – this is it

3 weeks ago

If, like me, you are easily influenced by TikTok, you may have recently bought some fun-coloured running shoes and given a half marathon a go. Not all of us are maybe quite ready to commit to the training involved in a full marathon so the half distance is a lovely introduction, being challenging but still very achievable!

The Robin Hood Marathon is one of the most popular and longest running road events in the UK and has raised over £450,000 in one year previously. Once I’d passed the nervy stage, I was so excited, so on the 29^th September, I joined nearly 8,000 people and headed to Victoria Embankment nice and early to drop off our bags and make the most of the busy race village.

Before we headed down to our wave start zones for 9:30am. The running community are very welcoming people, so the atmosphere was very wholesome as we all lined up to begin which definitely settled all of us.

Once we set off, the streets were lined with supporters on both sides every step of the way. I saw an array of signs being held up, and it began to hit home that I now had 21.1km (or 13.1 miles) ahead of me. The first few kilometres were adrenaline-filled and I tried to make the most of the amazing environment I was lucky enough to be part of.

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The hard section started when we reached the park and had to take on its many hills, and if you know what how hilly Nottingham is imagine running around it. I was solely motivated by the signs being waved by spectators and these have led me to decide that my new favourite mantra is “pain is temporary, kudos is forever”, thank you Strava, we love you.

After being humbled by some hills, we reached Derby Road which was my favourite part of the course as it was busy with students, including my housemates who were equipped with motivational messages of “hurry up”. This is one of the huge benefits of running at a local event, so many of your friends and family can be there to support you and keep your spirits high.

From here, was the main section of the race which went through Jubilee Campus and the beautiful Wollaton Park.

Normally when I run, I like to describe it as a “frollick”, and this was definitely the energy I channelled through these miles, just trying to stay on a pace and take a couple of gels – another joy of running is being able to eat sweets as you do it!

It was all seeming a little too easy and at kilometre 18, until I was greeted with a stitch which slowed me down, but the supporters made such a difference to keeping me going. The last couple kilometres were fuelled by nothing except the thought of an almond croissant waiting for me at the finish.

It was all worth it to cross the line and be awarded a medal and t-shirt, which I will be wearing LOTS in the foreseeable future; because that’s what runners do, we flex our achievements.

So, if you are thinking about running at all, or a half, or a full even, this is your sign! Robin Hood was an incredible, well organised event and entry for next year is already open so it’s definitely worth checking out. If you are looking for something a bit shorter, every Saturday at 9am, Nottingham has a couple of park runs (my personal favourite being at Wollaton Park) which are incredibly friendly and the best way to kick off your weekend – as long as you weren’t at Ocean the night before.