This race was a bit different from anything else I’ve entered. Mainly because at the start line I was surrounded by 600 people dressed as Santa Claus

This is the Carlisle Santa Dash. Each year hundreds of Santas take to the streets of Carlisle to run a 5k for charity. It’s a fantastic event and sees loads of spectators (especially with young children) coming to watch and cheer you along with a “Ho, Ho, Ho” or a “Did you forget your reindeer?”.

It’s a fairly surreal experience being stood at the starting line with so many people who all look identical. I didn’t recognise a single one of my club members even though I know they were there, somewhere.

It’s also not a race you’re going to get a PB on. Needless to say, running in a full Santa suit, complete with fake beard, is rather warm. Even in winter. However, this isn’t the point of this particular race. It’s all about the atmosphere and being part of something truly unique.

One thing that really surprised me was how generous this race was. The Santa Dash was fantastic value! For your entry fee of £12 you get a full Santa suit, a medal, and tons of mince pies, biscuits and cups of tea at the finish. I was also lucky enough to be one of the first few over the finish line so won myself a nice New Balance boot bag too.

I can’t recommend this race enough for both new and experienced runners. It really was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday morning!

Touted as the oldest 10 mile road race in the UK, the Brampton to Carlisle race has been run every year for the past 65 years. It follows open roads from the centre of Brampton, through a couple of small villages, and then ends outside a sports centre in the heart of Carlisle.
I had also heard it being called the 'tightest 10 miler in the UK' due to lack of a finisher’s goody bag, but more on that later.

Due to it being a last minute decision, I hadn't pre-registered online so myself and a couple of friends decided to beat the crowds and arrive nice and early at the start line. The registration takes place inside a school and has ample seating, which on the day was a blessing as the temperatures were starting to dip below freezing.
I paid my £16 (with affiliation discount), was handed my race number and took a seat amongst the others who had started to arrive.
Over the next hour I watched as more and more people turned up, found the rest of their running club and started on their pre-race routines. The more adventurous ended up outside, running a few warm-up laps of the school, while others chose to keep warm indoors, shedding their over-clothes at the last possible minute.
10 minutes before race start, we all made our way to the starting line and awaited the signal to start.

It's a fast course but it's also a gun start with 700 people crowded onto a small village road. This means that unless you're stood at the very front, your official time is going to be at least a few seconds out. This isn't a problem if you're just fun-running, like me, but a lot of people use this course to set new PB's so start line positioning is something to consider.

Unfortunately the start of the race does not pass through the centre of Brampton. Instead it immediately steers you out of the town and onto the main A-road. This is a shame as Brampton is a very picturesque village and running through the town centre would have been far more eventful than the route it currently takes.

The first mile is on closed roads, but after this you end up running along the A689, one of the main roads into Carlisle. While not the most pleasant of roads, it is long, straight and predominantly downhill for two miles. This is great for gaining some early flex time as there’s a couple of long uphill stretches later on in the race.

At around the 3 mile mark you turn off the A-road and spend the next 4 miles on nice, quiet country lanes. This is a lot more picturesque than the previous road and the traffic is almost non-existent. You also get to run through a couple of small villages where a handful of residents were braving the cold to give runners some encouragement as they entered the last 3 miles of the race.

At mile 7 you are deposited back onto the main A-road for a mile until you end up on the footpaths for the last stretch into Carlisle. The end of the race is a long downhill that is great for some last minute overtaking if you conserved some energy from the previous hills. Just be careful of the 90 degree left turn onto the finish line. A guy behind me hit the deck pretty hard at this point and had to be helped over the line.

All in all I have mixed feelings about this race. On one hand, it's a fairly dull route on busy open roads. The majority of people are vying for a PB so have their heads down for a large part of the run. This means the usually friendly banter is less prolific than other races.
On the other hand, it's a great course for setting a fast time. Since the route isn't an out and back, there's a net elevation loss from start to finish and this is very prevalent at the start when you seem to be running downhill for the first few miles. It's also devoid of many twists and turns which ups the overall speed of the run too. All of this becomes very apparent when you see the results. Nearly 10% of the field ran sub-60 minute times! It's obvious the benefits I mentioned before attract a lot of strong competitors.

It's also not a run to do for the goody bag. I'd heard of previous years that the most you got when crossing the finish line was a glass of water. Thankfully, this year wasn't as bad as that but it still wasn't great. All finishers were given a coaster with the race details on it. It's a nice memento but considering the event fee, you would have thought you'd at least be walking away with a medal.

Even with the bad points, I'll still probably end up doing it again next year as it's a good benchmark for seeing how quick you can run a 10 miler. It's also only down the road from where I live. However, I don't think I could recommend it to friends unless they were very serious about getting a PB.

Here I am stood on the start line of The Great North Run. My first ever half-marathon.

To say I was stood on the start line is a bit of an exaggeration. With 57000 other runners lined up, I was a good way back from the actual start.

Everyone at the race start was incredibly friendly and I chatted with others as though I'd known them far longer than the 20 minutes I'd been standing there.

As the starting gun goes off the crowd slowly start to trudge forward toward the starting line and with each step the excitement in the atmosphere heightens. People started jumping up and down, performing some last-minute stretches and patting each other on the back. The crowd shouted cries of encouragement and as we crossed the white line, the crowd in front of me started to fan out, creating space to actually run. We were off.

I’d been told by a friend to keep left at the start as you got to miss the first hill and go through the underpass instead. I did as I was told and headed underground. Someone not far ahead shouted out “Oggy oggy oggy”. It echoed off the concrete walls so that everyone in the underpass could hear it. Within seconds there was a thousand or more voices responding with “Oi, oi, oi”. It was incredible! That many people, shouting in unison in what was essentially a large concrete box was deafening, and definitely an experience I won't forget any time soon.

Running through this underpass that makes up the central motorway is a surreal experience. You and thousands of others are on what is one of the busiest roads in Newcastle. For this experience alone, the race is worth it.

The next few miles were great. Spurred on by the cheers of the crowd, I felt great. Every square inch of pavement along the route was jam-packed with supporters handing out jelly babies and orange slices. There was even live music at each of the major roundabouts. It is definitely the best atmosphere of any of the running events I’ve been to.

As we cruised along through miles 6 to 9, the atmosphere of the runners around me changed somewhat. No longer were the laughs and cheers as frequent. We were also out of the iconic scenery of Newcastle and were now winding our way through residential areas that aren't the most picturesque. Most people now seemed to be focusing on just keeping their legs moving. Occasionally someone would attempt an ‘Oggy oggy oggy, only for it to be met with either silence or a half-hearted, single “oi”.

At mile 10 there was a group handing out beer shots. Normally I’d have been first in line, but after 10 miles of running(which was now officially my farthest run) beer was the last thing I wanted.

As we approached the end there’s a lovely steep downhill section that I was able to use and re-gain some of my lost momentum. It also overlooks the sea and provides some much needed inspiration in the final stretch of this race. For some this is too little too late, and attempt to walk the final mile. The crowd has other ideas. There were thousands of spectators lined up along this final straight and as soon as anyone attempted to walk, they would shout out your name (from your race number) along with cheers of encouragement. I don’t think anyone managed more than a few steps of walking before being encouraged (or shamed) into running again.

As you cross the line you're funnelled into medal collection. For so many runners, I was very surprised by how efficient this was. There was no waiting around at all. Unfortunately the same could not be said about the busses back into Newcastle. The queues were insanely long. Supposedly extra bus services has been put on, but evidently not enough.
The alternative is the metro. The walk is substantial after having run a half marathon, but there are hundreds of other people doing the same so the atmosphere along the walk is great. The queue for the Metro was around 30-45 minutes but was well organised and tickets were sold to people while still queuing.

All in all, it's a great race with an atmosphere that cannot be beat. The scenery after the first few miles leaves a lot to be desired but is offset by the start and finish which takes you through the centre of Newcastle, across the iconic Tyne Bridge and then deposits you on the shore line of South Shields.