The Cheltenham half marathon playlist

When I ran Weston Super Half earlier this year, my husband made me a Spotify playlist of favourite artists and songs. I absolutely loved it, so decided to make a very similar one for Cheltenham half marathon.

But all the wheels fell off for me at Cheltenham half marathon. I felt so awful that I could barely even hear the music, I certainly wasn’t enjoying it. Every bit of my energy and headspace was focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

So when I ran Worcester City half marathon two weeks later, I decided to listen to my Cheltenham half marathon playlist. And I’m pleased to say it was very good!

It is based on the playlist my husband made for me. On the whole I’ve just replaced a song with one by the same artist. Where he chose a particular song that I liked, rather than an artist I like, I’ve replaced it with a different song by a different artist. He only duplicated three artists – Levellers, Queen and Elton John. I duplicated Levellers and Queen again, and also Yungblud and The Wonder Stuff.

The Weston Super Half playlist was 2 hours and 7 minutes and 32 tracks. The Cheltenham half marathon playlist is 2 hours and 1 minute and also 32 tracks. It actually finished and started again before I finished running Cheltenham half marathon!

So here’s what I had the pleasure of listening to on Worcester City half marathon (and why I chose them):

• Green Green Grass – George Ezra – as a family, we like all of George Ezra’s singles. This one is particularly special because it was used in the panto last year, which was definitely my daughter’s last ever panto!
• Overpass Graffiti – Ed Sheeran – my favourite song from Equals and one of my favourite Ed Sheeran songs. Ed Sheeran is a favourite artist for the whole family and my daughter and I have seen him live three times.
• Don’t Feel Like Feeling Sad Today – Yungblud – Yungblud came into my life a year ago, just when I needed him to! I was feeling sad at my son going to university and Yungblud’s music really helped me through that. I could have picked pretty much any of his tracks for this playlist.
• Viva La Vida – Coldplay – another family favourite artist – probably the only one we can play in the car without someone complaining. Viva LaVida is probably my favourite track and is memorable because it was used in a concert at my son’s school a few years ago.
• I’m Still Standing – Elton John – probably my favourite Elton John song, which was also used in one of my daughter’s pantos many years ago. My husband and I went to the farewell tour last year.
• Screamager – Therapy? – this was a completely forgotten track from my 6th form and university indie clubbing days. Spotify played it to me out of the blue and I’ve been listening to it ever since. Pure teenage punk pop energy!
• Better Than Them – New Model Army – another favourite band from 6th form and uni which I’d forgotten about until Spotify brought them back into my life. I love so many of their tracks.
• Turn – Travis – I didn’t like or really know Travis until I saw them at Wychwood Festival this year (a couple of weeks after Weston Super Half). I fell in love with their music and have listened to them a lot since then.
• Here Comes Everyone – The Wonder Stuff – one of my favourite ever bands. I loved this track from Never Loved Elvis when I was 17 and still love it now.
• Sandstorm – Cast – a band from university and working-in-McDonalds-while-I-was-looking-for-a-job days. I could have chosen from several of their tracks.
• Me In Honey – REM – wouldn’t have been a favourite song when I first listened to Out of Time when I was 17, but I really love it now.
• Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen – I’ve loved Queen since I was a child and could have chosen from so many of their songs, but this seemed a good one just because you shouldn’t stop when you’re running!
• The Game – Levellers – my favourite band ever. Again, I could have chosen from an almost infinite number of songs. I went for this one because it’s from arguably their best album – Levelling the Land. Back in the day, they often used to open their concerts with this one.
• The Drowners – Suede – a favourite band from university days. This might have been the first track of theirs I ever heard.
• Science Feature/ Double Feature – Richard O’Brien – from the Rocky Horror Show soundtrack. I loved Rocky Horror when I was a teenager and have listened to the soundtrack a lot this year, because I went to see the stage show with my daughter. Was torn between this and Sweet Transvestite to include on my playlist.
• Common People – Pulp – another favourite band from my university and rubbish graduate days. I love all the tracks from Different Class and His ‘n’ Hers, but this is just an iconic choice.
• The Day We Caught The Train – Ocean Colour Scene – a forgotten track from my 6th form days, which Spotify brought back into my life. I wouldn’t be able to identify any other Ocean Colour Scene songs, but I absolutely love this one.
• Shine On – The House of Love – the first band I ever saw live (at the age of 16) and the first indie band I ever liked. Then Levellers and The Wonder Stuff came into my life and I think I’d forgotten about The House of Love before I even left school (at 18, because 6th form is still school and that is a hill I’m prepared to die on). Spotify reminded me of this amazing track.
• Come As You Are – Nirvana were a favourite 6th form and university band for me, like pretty much everyone of my generation. With Smells Like Teen Spirit already on my Weston Super Half playlist, this is one of many other tracks I could have chosen.
• Live Forever – Oasis – another band everyone of my generation loved. I think this was the first Oasis track I ever heard and it’s possibly still my favourite.
• Enough is Enough – Chumbawamba – my favourite Chumbawamba track. They used to support Levellers back in the day. Contrary to popular belief, there is more to them than just Tubthumbing. This was actually released three years before Tubthumping.
• Give It Away – Red Hot Chilli Peppers – I used to go clubbing at Rock City as a student and this was a classic. It was the first Chilli Peppers track I ever heard.
• Autumnsong – Manic Street Preachers – I could have chosen something from This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours, but I chose Autumnsong from Send Away The Tigers, because we used to listen to it in the car when the kids were young and they love this song.
• Somewhere Only We Know – Keane – I didn’t listen to much music in the noughties because I was too busy bringing up small children (born 2001, 2003 and 2006), but Keane were my favourite band of the noughties and this was one of my favourite songs.
• Somebody Told Me – The Killers – the other band I liked in the noughties! Somebody Told Me was the first song of theirs I ever heard (yes, before Mr Brightside)
• Lowlife – Yungblud – new single released this year which had very little airplay. It is a different sound to his previous stuff and my family’s reaction was ‘turn it off!’, but I still like it!
• The Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga – I did listen to Lady Gaga a bit 10 or 12 years ago, but wouldn’t say she was a favourite artist. This is a great song to play when you’re nearing the end of the run, though. If you’re chasing a PB, you’re definitely on the edge of glory.
• World Freakshow – Levellers – the first song from the first album (A Weapon Called the Word) and one I never tire of. I’ve been listening to it even more than usual this year.
• Fat Bottomed Girls – Queen – again, I could have chosen pretty much any Queen song. I like this one more than I did back in the day and it’s a race (even if it’s a bicycle race rather than a running one), so it seemed a good one to choose.
• Hypersonic Missiles – Sam Fender – a favourite artist of recent years and this is his second best track, in my opinion. I actually finished Worcester City half marathon to this one.

The two tracks I didn’t get round to listening to at Worcester were:

• Don’t Let Me Down, Gently – The Wonder Stuff – I love all the tracks from both Never Loved Elvis and Hup in particular, but chose this one as it’s upbeat.
• Karma Police – Radiohead – I had a phase of listening to Radiohead when I was depressed and living in London in the late 90s. I actually find them really hard to listen to now, but I could listen to Karma Police or Creep on repeat all day and not get bored.

Do you listen to music when you run? What do you like to listen to?