I had been waiting to run this race for 2 and a half years. Sadly it was the last ever one!

When and where?

24/10/2021 – Start and finish: Around Liverpool Albert Docks

The Route

The route was great fun and varied, we set off by the docks and ran through the city including the world famous Matthew Street!

We then headed up to China Town and through Liverpool’s parks before popping over to Penny Lane.

We continued to run through Sefton Park which was lovely!

There were a few sharp corners, particularly when we went through an underpass and had to deal with some unhappy pedestrians.

Eventually we ended up back by the River Mersey for a long stretch. I actually really enjoyed this as I could switch off and get into a rhythm. The route took us away from the river twice which I found a bit annoying but as soon as I turned that last corner and saw the finish line all was forgiven!

Every mile they had live bands and DJs playing, it was great fun. I sang and danced my way through.

Race Conditions

It tried to rain at the start but nothing came of it. Later the sun actually came out!

The only thing was that in some of the parks, there were a lot of leaves about so there was a risk of slipping. I did see one or two people fall over unfortunately.

Otherwise, it was a perfect day for a run.

My Performance

As I’m sure many of you are aware, my running has been a struggle since June. A mixture of loss of confidence, overtraining and then burnout has taken its toll.

My aim was to run the whole thing (not race it!) and to have fun.

I definitely achieved this, in almost all my race photos I’m smiling and having a great time.

I danced and sang along to the bands playing and the DJ bus at around mile 10 was playing 90s dance tunes… I could have stayed there all day!!

It was a positive end to what has been a tough year running wise. I’m so excited to just have some fun and get some of my running strength back now I’m not having to prepare for any races.

Would I recommend?

Sadly, this is the last Liverpool Rock n Roll. If it wasn’t, I would have recommended it and I would have happily signed up again next year.

There have been some issues, the lead up to the race there wasn’t much communication (if this was my first ever race, I would have been so stressed!) and the race times were delayed.

That being said, when it came to the race itself there was tremendous support by the volunteers and crowds. The route had bands and performances every mile and I had a good time.

That’s the main thing isn’t it?

Official Time: 2hr 13mins and 27secs