PitchBlack: London's New Secret Night Race
Last month we sent our very own Tom to try out London’s first nocturnal adventure night race, here’s what he thought:
What is PitchBlack?
The Instagram ads got me yet again.
The choice was easy - come by yourself, with a friend, or grab a couple of mates to make your own way 20km across London. The premise was simple - starting from London City Runners HQ in Bermondsey, you had to navigate your own way to 4 checkpoints across London with only the postcode as reference, before heading back to HQ. You could take the fastest line possible or do a little pub crawl en route - your race, your rules.
I didn’t want to spend Friday night freezing on my own so managed to convince a couple of friends to join me for a slightly different evening. As to be expected, nearly all the runners took the same route from HQ to CP1. It became noticeably spread out after this as we made our way up to CP2 - The Point. The Point did not disap-point, and we had stunning views over a lit up London. Quickly back down the hill, through the foot tunnel, we found ourselves in the middle of Canary Wharf’s winter lights (CP3). After dodging crowds, taking a few wrong turns, and getting off the dual carriageway... Leadenhall market was the marker for CP4 before returning to HQ.
There was only one rule - go to the checkpoints in order and make sure you got your scorecard marked. We succeeded: 1 2 0 8 - 12th August. On this date the UK will experience a partial solar Eclipse, with the moon covering 90% of the sun at its peak. The shadow of the moon will plunge London into darkness for almost 2 hours.
When is the next race?
Edition 002 will be a 3D time trial taking place during the Eclipse. More details to be revealed soon.
Who is it for?
Anyone and everyone. Some people raced, some people walked. Most people were in between.
Our takeaway:
I’ve tried lots of different types of running events and this one was right up there with the most enjoyable. There was no pressure, an opportunity for adventure, and I got to spend 2 hours cutting through London with some good friends.
100% recommended - keep your eyes out for PitchBlack002.
