Bling #25 is on the rack, for today I ran the London Zoo Stampede, a 10K organised to raise funds for ZSL. This had been in my calendar a long, long time and pre-dated my move, so needed to sweat over the race pack being sent to the right place. This is, and was, my last race before the Berlin marathon and I planned on running back from Regents Park, to add another 8K onto the distance.

The route

The route annoyed me. It was not a race around London Zoo, it was Regents Park, it was the bloody London Summer 10K route again. There was barely 20 yards at the start and in the zoo itself. How can you call yourself the London Zoo stampede when you are not in the Zoo?

How did it go?

It went ok. I was comfortable in the new shoes, and felt good at the end. I could have taken 5 minutes plus off the time.

There are probably race photos, but there was no email telling us what site they are on. There is also no mention of the actual results. But, according to my Nike+ I ran 10.02K in 57:36, including a shoe retying, and 3 walks for water stops.

The Bling

I do not rate the bling at all. It is a pretty poor showing. Longleat 10K has the great lion medals, and this is pretty poor from London Zoo.

Average at best

However

On the plus note I completed the first race in my new shoes. My “old trusty” pair of Brooks Adrenalin 12s, the black and yellow ones saw me through 400K of races and training but had really lost all sponginess and support by the time I last wore them at the Bushy Park Half.

I made the mistake of buying a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 9s but they didn’t quite fit my trotters, so went with what I know and now have 2 pairs of Adrenalins, a blue and silver pair, and my new go to shoe, a red and silver pair. And I wore them today, although the laces were too tight and made my left foot go numb, so I stopped and retied them around the 7K mark.

Would I run it again?

The course was the London Summer 10K series route through Regents Park, the medal was poor, the race didn’t take part in the zoo. So no, I would not and would not recommend it either. Your friends and family have to pay full entrance costs to get in.