Running The Big Half - A Fast And Flat Half Marathon In London! (2023)

The Big Half is a mass participation half marathon which takes place in the heart of London, England. With over 20,000 people taking part in the 2023 edition, this was one of the busiest races I've ever taken part in.
Being in central London, the route is fast, flat and iconic. The route takes runners through various neighbourhoods, and there's even a few landmarks thrown in like the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.
This was my first half marathon in 6 months, having spent the majority of the year focusing on ultra marathons. When I rocked up to the start line, I was on the tail end of injury recovery so I was curious to see what kind of time I could get given the lost fitness. This video documents my experience taking on the Big Half 2023, enjoy!
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[@markg99]

The big, hard, half! Well done mate. Still a very good time and London always looks good on days like this.

[@runningcafe1]

Cheers Mark, enjoyed this one. Was nice to have a bit of sun rather than a wash out!

[@cars92dtb]

Well done to you Craig you are back in the game! Hope you have more events lined up and a lot to look forward to.

[@runningcafe1]

Hey, sorry for the slow reply. Thanks! Yes, got a very busy 2024 coming up with lots of ultras in the diary :)

[@mark2rob]

This was my third half marathon and despite the hot conditions it was my favourite. Way better than the over rated great north! I believe that the finisher tops are long sleeve because lots of Muslim women run it so it’s nice that they are considered.

[@runningcafe1]

Glad you enjoyed it. I liked the flat and fast course 🙏

[@raghavjoshi4639]

Great video and well captured. I enjoyed the run myself - took 2 hours so didn’t make it look as easy as yourself 😂

[@runningcafe1]

Thank you! A finish is the most important thing, congrats!

[@zydrunasjursa9338]

I always love your videos. Thanks Craig.

[@runningcafe1]

Thanks for watching!

[@BradleySingerRuns]

fantasic effort after being out for a while. that time is unreal. running in london is always lovely.

[@runningcafe1]

Thanks Bradley, London is fun to run in. Very flat!

[@glen6276]

Great job Craig. Anyone who can run a 1.30 after being injured and lacking fitness is doing great in my book. Keep up the great work 👍

[@runningcafe1]

Thank you! Was definitely happy with the time 🙏

[@julietmorrice3205]

Super speedy! 💥 Well done

[@James_DCFC]

Well done Craig. I struggled a bit in the last 3 miles or so, but still got a pb at 1hr47. Not a fan of the long sleeve shirt, but I guess it’ll come in handy come the winter

[@runningcafe1]

Thanks James. Awesome time and congrats on the PB. I was surprised at the long sleeve shirt, yeah you're right that it will come in handy in the winter

[@rodrigofmoretti]

Sup, buddy! Great The Big Half vid you got there. It will be my first race in London on September 1. 2024. My man, where was its bib's pick-up location? Did you get it the day before the run? Keep up the good work! 😊🏃🏻

[@runningcafe1]

Thanks very much and best of luck with your race! To be totally honest, I can't remember at all where the bibs came from... I'd recommend checking the event website. Cheers!

[@sturgmanrunning8546]

Hahaha I got long sleeve top too 🤣 well done mate 💪

[@runningcafe1]

I was surprised by the long sleeved top! Thank you 🙏

[@conradburdekin722]

Still very quick Craig! Great to see you back - I’ve missed your videos! Was just telling someone the other day about your sub 3 marathon . What injury have you had and did you know the cause?

[@runningcafe1]

Thanks Conrad, appreciate that! Was good to be running again and filming another video. I don't know exactly what the injury was but it was my right ankle playing up whenever i flexed the foot. In terms of cause, I noticed the pain a day or two after Race to the Stones 100km race which I did after 3 weeks of no running at all so probably not the best idea in the world! Probably just too much after a prolonged period of inactivity. Did you run the Thames Path challenge yesterday in the end? How did you get on if so?

[@conradburdekin722]

@@runningcafe1 hey Craig thanks for the reply and glad you’re back. Good memory on the Thames path. Sadly not - I got my own injury following on from Leeds marathon and had 7 weeks of almost no running. By then I’d missed a good chunk of the training for Thames path so decided to defer it to next year. Was sad at the time but it was the right choice as I’d been quite anxious. Seeing yesterday’s weather down there I’m glad I wasn’t on the start line!!

[@baihaqi3116]

Plan to run in London, may i know last year when you collect the bib number ? Cause i wanna plan well the trip to london

[@runningcafe1]

I can't remember to be honest, maybe the bib was sent in the post but I'd check with the race organisers to be sure

[@giro5875]

Hi, my comment might be out of place, but I know that You read every comment and I want to share what I'm thinking about my running I'm pissed off. I ran a half marathon yesterday and I have progressed one minute during the whole summer. Only one minute from 1:45:30 to 1:44:30 and at the finish line I was d e a d, I don't know what happened, I was training really hard just to achieve nothing (interval training, long base runs, all of it). I'm signed up for a marathon in 4 weeks, I would love to run somewhere around 3:40:00, but now I have no idea what is going on (shifting plans to 3:45:00 or less). What's more, now i'm sick (being sick since yesterday's afternoon is my only potential explanation for the poor result, but idk). I had to say my thoughts to someone, thanks in advance for reading. I'm going back to sleep trying to recover and I hope that I will be able to be back running later this week - I have to follow my marathon plan! Oh, and well done on Your run after the injury! I would love to run around 1:30:00 someday 😁

[@runningcafe1]

Hey thanks for your comment and I'm sorry to hear about your frustrations. I know what it's like to put lots of work in and seem to not be making progress. It's annoying, to say the least! I don't know what your training looks like or what your current level of fitness is like, but the greatest thing that helped me in my own training is following the 80/20 principle. 80% of running at a nice and chilled heart rate, the other 20% faster e.g., tempo/threshold or intervals. It doesn't seem like you're making progress, but running most runs at 80% allows you to up the mileage sustainably as it lowers your risk of injury. Doesn't seem legit coming from me as I got injured prior to this half marathon haha but the reason I got injured is because I ran a 100k ultramarathon without running at all for 3 weeks straight (a dumb move, on my part). When I followed the 80/20 principle, I was able to up my weekly mileage to 60 or so miles a week and I achieved my first ever sub 3 marathon. Wish you the best for your marathon, enjoy it! Thanks again for the comment

[@giro5875]

@@runningcafe1 5:17 pace by my watch, 3:43:56 - official results, everything was great! I loved this marathon and can't wait for another one in the spring. Oh and about this half, I was really sick back then, it had to be the reason for the poor result 😁

[@runningcafe1]

@@giro5875 Congratulations for your result, glad you enjoyed it and that you're pleased with it! Roll on the next one, like you say. Well done!

[@Glenfiner]

Nice vid, I loved this race but it was hot. Well done! By the way It’s Tower bridge not London Bridge , just saying 😂🤣

[@runningcafe1]

It was very hot indeed, good that you enjoyed it! I always misname some important landmark in my vids 😅