2025 and a tale of two races. One ended with a party. The other with a PB.

Thinking of running one of the big UK half marathons? Here’s my take on two of the best – the Great North Run and the Cardiff Half. Both unforgettable, but very different experiences.
I didn’t plan it this way; but sometimes serendipity has other ideas.
First up was the Great North Run in Newcastle. I’d trained hard, I had a plan, but on the day my legs just wouldn’t play along. After 10k every step was a battle and I missed my sub-1:40 goal by 4 minutes. Not the race I hoped for. Luckily my daughter, who’s studying up in Newcastle, was there to scoop me up afterwards, feed me cider, and get me dancing at the best post-race party ever. Then, scrolling through the ever-informative Hay Hotfooters WhatsApp, I spotted that #BeMoreFrank - a brilliant charity supporting local families of children living with a cancer diagnosis- had a few spare places for the Cardiff Half. Maybe this was my shot at redemption? With only a month to prepare, I even drafted in ChatGPT for a makeshift training plan .
Yesterday, in Cardiff, it all came together. Sub-1:40. Done. The goal I’ve been chasing. I told a few of you that if I managed it, I’d be the happiest man alive and honestly, I am.
It still feels strange to be writing this, as I’m a very recent convert to running having managed to avoid (or miss out on!) it for the first 50 years of my life. But I’m so glad I finally found it.  So if you’re weighing up the big half marathons:
Cardiff Half - fast, flat, brilliant support, and a real city-wide buzz (just get there early the bag drop queues are chaos). The ballot is still open!
Great North Run → an iconic event with unrivalled scale: wall-to-wall support, Red Arrows overhead, even a beer station at 18km. Those long gentle climbs though… they’ll test you. Two races, two endings. One a party. One a PB. Both unforgettable.
So… which one’s for you? 
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