THE Brass Monkey Half Marathon claims to be one of the most popular 13-milers in the country.

The race, which starts and finishes at York Racecourse, was sold out within a week of entries being accepted.

I managed to get my entry in on time, and when I asked one of the runners why it was so popular, the only explanation seems to be that this is a flat, fast course, and is the first major half marathon of the year.

I joined some 1,000 other runners on Sunday for the race. It wasn't quite Brass Monkey weather, but it was t-shirt and vest weather, that's for sure.

I'd driven up overnight to stay with some friends in nearby Beverley, and when I got to the racecourse it was filling up quite nicely. Stewards were having problems parking some of the cars on the grass carpark, with some vehicles getting stuck in the mud.

As for the race itself, it is a fast half marathon. The race doesn't touch York itself, but heads out on a loop from the racecourse out towards the villages of Bishopthorpe, Appleton Roebuck and Acaster Malbis to the south-west of York.

Having run just once this past week because of a throat infection, I was short on fitness, but was surprised to start pretty quick. Thirty four minutes for five miles and 70 minutes for 10 miles was promising, but the last three miles home were tough. That was to be expected. The time of 1hr 34min was good, and encouraging.

I had half hour's physio on Friday to sort out some sore knees which have been giving me jip ever since the Brown Willy race at the beginning of month. Mark, the physio, did a sterling job and the knees were fine.

The race itself is a great race. The marshalls are outstanding, and there was a marshall stood near the finish shouting out "welcome home". Twee, but nice.

Equally twee but nice were the race mementoes of some classy sweatshirts, which made up for the normal pitiful medal or naff t-shirt.

I ran in an anonymous Asics running vest, and I missed not running in a Stubbington vest. It's a talking point, and especially running so far from home I think next time the green of Stubbington will get an airing.

Next stop is the Not the Roman IX race in Stratford-upon-Avon this Sunday.