18th January 2026 – RACE REPORT BY NARNI
A somewhat dreary Sunday saw York Knavesmire Harriers host the Brass Monkey half marathon; a popular, fast and flat course that starts at York racecourse before looping Southwards towards Home Green, then mirroring the River Ouse as it snakes back towards Fulford. Aside from the closed roads (did I mention it was flat?), the other thing that makes this race most excellent is the fact that yes, it practically starts in Fulford. Great place. Great name.
The organisers had devised a number of clever schemes to encourage ethical do-goodery (not a word, but it is now), including a foodbank collection point and a car share raffle operating out of race HQ. I had very prettily arranged multiple cooking sauces, rice, various tins and packets onto a nice tray and clingfilmed the lot, feeling quite smug when I rocked up to hand the goodies over and the bloke behind me was holding a solitary tin of mushy peas. That said, hubris gets you nowhere and the main point is that all of these were donated to a local foodbank. Excellent.
I made absolutely no friends as I noted that there was a queue for the gents bogs but none for the womens (HOW?!), and swooped in for an emergency pre-race wee shouting “how does it feel now, eh?!” in the face of a bewildered poor bloke just waiting to use the toilets. I regret nothing: still feeling a sense of amazement about it, even now. Having a proper bog and sink and not being consigned to a 50 minute wait for a smelly sad portaloo (I’m looking at you Manchester Marathon) is a real bonus. A second bonus is that this race is flat (have I already mentioned that?).
Plenty of pacers were to be found, and I wedged myself at the start in-between 1:40 and 1:50. It was starting to rain moderately at this stage, and I found myself envious of all the folks who had thought to don a bin bag. Never mind. A comprehensive race briefing and at 10am sharp we were off, happily to ACDC’s ‘Thunderstruck’. I opted for a very optimistic 4:45/km pace and dug in. 2km and I noticed one of my shoes was undone. Had I forgotten to double knot? Nike’s Alphafly is quite an elasticated shoe that you really have to cram your foot into in the first instance, so I opted to carry on: at 3.5km my other lace came undone and I had to admit defeat and pause to re-tie them. I lost the proximity of the 1:40 pacers but did still have them in my sight.
By the time 10k came round the crowed has spread out and I found myself running a lot of this portion of the flat (I know, I haven’t told you) course on my tod, which explains most of my race photos looking like a billy no mates. I knew I was doing well at this stage and so (shock horror) decided not to pop a heel click for the race photographer, because I didn’t know if I’d get my momentum back afterwards. 11 – 14km passed without incident, but it was at this stage that I started to feel a bit queasy. I was sure that the first 10km I’d done was amongst my quickest, and wasn’t sure how well this boded for having something left in the tank for the second half. I pulled it back a little, knowing that if I could keep the average pace to something starting with a 4 rather than a 5, then I was still on for a PB. KM 18+ was a harrowing ordeal and exercise in the dark art of ‘hanging on’ for dear life. A LOT of mental maths was being deployed at this stage, and I had to tell myself off for looking at my watch every minute or so (was I actually going backwards?). The marshals and fellow runners were especially cheering at this point, with one bronzed Goddess in super-coordinated full neon orange outfit sprung past me shouting ‘Sunday dinner’ as she did so. This provided ample motivation; great pins, great banter.
I crossed the line in 1:42:28 – a new PB and one I’m super happy with. I rewarded myself with two items from the 2nd hand clothing stall (black Montane windbreaker for 15 quid, yes please Sir), a bacon sandwich, 2 double espressos and a post-race wee, just so I could wash my hands with hot water and warm them back up. I very quickly got cold again as I was distracted by a most excellent brass band on my way back to the car, but managed to find it again in the end.
If you like great organisation, a FLAT course (I know, right), PB opportunities, charitable causes, wonderful marshals and an oustanding atmosphere, get your name in the ballot for the Brass Monkey 2027.
