Last Christmas I decided everyone in my family had enough “stuff” and decided to buy experiences for people instead.  So I gave my partner a holiday in Estonia with entry to the Tallinn Half (which meant I got to run it too!)

It’s the first international race I’ve ever done and was fantastic. Entry was only €25. Flights with EasyJet were cheap as chips and the airport is only 20 mins and €10 by taxi to the town. We stayed in a lovely Air B&B 15 mins walk from the start line!

Tallinn is beautiful and fascinating - the stunningly pretty medieval old town is surrounded by grey, brutal communist architecture.

        

The race starts and ends in Freedom Square in the old town before looping around the harbour, coastline and residential areas. It’s almost completely flat - but some tricky cobbles at the very end meant no sprint finish. (There is also a full marathon which follows some of the same route with the fastest runners lapping us from about 8 miles)

Support along the route wasn’t vast - but it was enthusiastic - lots of slightly mad looking old people shouting in Russian!

The half way water station also offered cups of alcohol free beer!

It’s a serious race - I didn’t see a single runner in fancy dress but there was one man who ran it all with a pineapple on his head! (Although I’ve no idea why)

We met several other British runners - mostly recognised by their club T shirts, all were enjoying it as much as we were.

So if you fancy a nice weekend away with a race thrown in I’d certainly recommend this one. (Just don’t spend the night before in the 24 hour Depeche Mode Bar!)