Ran the cancelled Reading half today and was bitterly disappointed by the race. It was very cold, snowy ❄️ and icy so I started just before the 5 mile mark and made my way around the route.

First disappointment: no water tables… at all 😮. The signs in various locations, starting at Kendrick Rd, got my hopes up only to be let down by no tables. Wasn't thirsty, but that's beside the point; I paid for water tables.

Next disappointment: no portapotties. I didn't need a wee or 💩 (I went before I went), but if I did, I'd have been caught short and would have had to use someone's letterbox 📬 - this is Reading after all, so no place for a nature 🍃 wee.

Next disappointment: no mile markers between 5 and 11. How on earth was I to know how far I'd gone, assuming I ran archaic imperial distances, if I didn't have my watch ⌚️ recording my every step and heart beat 💓?

And then came the biggest disappointment of all: NO NAGS HEAD BEER 🍻 TABLE!!! I only run this race for that one 🤬 table!!!

Being the big boy that I am, I zipped up my Yuki suit, held in my tears 😭 (for fear of them freezing to my face and freezing my eyes shut) and made my way along the rest of the route to the start line and lo and behold… there wasn't one. None, nada, nothing. No start line. HTF was I meant to know where I should have started?

Infuriated by this, I popped up to the race village to complain only to find it deserted. Not a sole about. Even the tumbleweed normally employed to populate deserted places didn't bother showing up. Angered by this sheer lack of preparation, I didn't even bother trying to cross the finish 🏁 line because I knew there probably wouldn't be anyone there to hand me no medal 🏅 (I would have come first, right?) and instead headed out on the rest of the route peeling off where I joined and then tacked on a little bit more.

Aside from the sheer disastrous race experience, lovely run out in the snow, ice, slush and f**king cold easterly wind. Lots of people had a right old moan and bitch on Twitter about the race being cancelled yet they didn't seem too bothered to get out for a run anyway. Guess they weren't that committed after all 🤭.

Mandatory Strava link - it's got photos too.

Disclaimer for those who want to jump on their high horses 🎠, I'm being facetious.