I asked TheFastOne for his thoughts on Ealing. Thought you might like to read what he had to say:

Running is a lonely experience, some choose to run with their thoughts, I chose to block
the outside world out by plugging ear buds in to my ears and throwing myself into my latest
podcast. (Anything, ranging from Kermode movie reviews to the particularly brilliant ‘news
quiz’ from radio 4) So it was around the 4 mile mark doing my second ever organised half
marathon I took a gamble and unplugged one of my ear buds and tentatively turned to my
fellow runner and said ‘Excuse me but what time are you aiming for?’ He looked a bit taken
back then smiled and said ‘1hr35’. This was ten minutes ahead of where I wanted to be.

What a feeling! Adrenaline surged through me. I was feeling good. When I told him my
current pb was 1hr47 he looked worried but then said ‘You are doing great keep going!!’
Continuing with a renewed spring in my step I kicked on and kept plodding through the
streets of Ealing. Who Knew Ealing was so hilly? Luckily for me (although at times it feels
like a curse) my training routes involved climbs of 400ft and hills that stretch for miles at a
time. What an advantage this was, instead of being frightened by the hills I attacked them,
passing numerous people. These climbs instead of tiring my legs, gave me momentum and
sense of pride at how well I was doing.

Towards the 11 mile mark my ham strings were tightening, my breathing was heavy when I saw the guy who I had bombarded earlier. He
was my light at the end of the tunnel. He was a good 500 metres ahead of me. I bided my
time, like an animal stalking his pray. Around the 11.5 mark I attacked, chasing him down
just after the 12 mile mark… I screamed at him ‘You and me sprint finish’ He looked at me in
amazement that I had caught him but then kicked on and started chasing me down. We had
a tremendous fight to the finish that I just piped him too and it really made the last mile fly by.
We embraced in a hug afterwards.

It was great end to a fantastically organised race and I learnt so much. Instead of shutting
yourself off to everything around you, embrace your fellow runner they can enhance your
experience.
Smashed my Pb by a good 14 minutes and finished 1hr:33:30.

Myself and Muddy Masochist are on a search for our next adventure!