We were invited to run the Hackney Half and jumped at the chance of running it, we had heard a lot about the Hackney half but neither of us have ran it before. The Hackney Half isn’t just a half marathon instead it is a three day ‘Fitness Festival’. The Hackney Half kicks off on the Friday and runs right through to the Sunday.
Hackney Half is run by Virgin Sports and in the lead up to the race we attended a couple of their Virgin Sport Warm up events which got us excited for the race itself (see a picture of us below at the launch of their run club).
We opted for Hackney Half to send us our race numbers and Rachel’s arrived on the Friday but Annie’s race number didn’t show up eeek. There was a slight panic, but Virgin Sport sent out an email to let everyone know that you could collect your running number on the Sunday Phew!
If you are heading to Hackney Half there are three stations relatively nearby; Homerton, Stratford & Leyton. Homerton is the closest station but is on the over ground and trains are not as frequent. Annie got the train from Homerton as managed to squeeze onto the train otherwise it was a 19-minute wait for the next one! Rach went to Leyton and had about a 20-minute walk to the start line but said the train sounded no where near a busy.
After collecting Annie’s race number, we headed to the site map and looked for the Virgin Club Sport Hospitality section which we were very kindly gifted. Club Sport had a secure bag drop, private toilets, changing area & complimentary food and drink. We didn’t take advantage of the food and drink before the race but we certainly took advantage of the private toilets- there was barely a que at all.
We headed to our race pens and before we knew it we were on our way, the race started at 9:00AM and Annie had already crossed the line at 9:05AM which is usually unheard of, there is usually a lot of waiting around.
Water Stations
Virgin Sport announced that in partnership with Hackney council they were going to eliminate the use of single use plastic during the race. This meant that instead of water bottles they were handing out paper cups. If we could give you any tips on this, it would be to STOP and drink the water do not try and run with a cup of water because it isn’t going to end well lol!
We were really impressed with the number of water stations along the route, they had a total of 8 water stations giving out a mixture of water and Nunn Hydration. They also handed out energy sweets at one of the stations, do forgive us we cannot remember when!
Toilets on Route
There were toilets at each of the water stations.
The toilets at the start were super busy but apparently, they had quite a few toilets dotted around, and everyone was going to the ones at the entrance. We did hear someone announce on several occasions that there were more toilets available that were less busy.
Route/Course
We had been told that the Hackney Half was a flat route, but we really didn’t find it that flat. When we were running it actually felt quite hilly- so be prepared it isn’t totally flat.
We got to see a lot of London that we had not previously explored, Rach loves to look around when she is running and spotted some cool places she wants to visit.
Phone Signal
We thought this was worth a mention as we really struggled with phone signal on the Sunday. If you are planning on meeting fellow runners on the Sunday, make sure you plan this before arriving. There are 23,000 runners running Hackney Half and that doesn’t include the spectators so as you can imagine the signal is non-existent.
Cost
The race costs £54 so it is quite a pricey half marathon, but you do get a T-shirt and a decent goodie bag post-race. Oh, and they also hand you a beer just after you cross the finish line!
There was tonnes of water available at the end of the race and it was so cold and refreshing which was very welcoming!
Overall, we had a great day and after the race we headed to the festival to have a look around, before heading back home and collapsing on the sofa for the rest of the afternoon.
