Well the day dawned grey and damp, a bit like my spirits at the thought of running this race. I booked it months and months ago, within weeks of starting to run as I thought it would give me a focus to keep me motivated to carry on training; that, and the fact that it's for a good cause. However, my running has gone from strength to strength and I long ago gave up on this race in terms of being a focus for anything. I have also spoken of my dislike for any kind of running which requires sustained speed which is the case with a 5k.
The little demon in me did think about not going and telling people that I had run it (after all, who would know, I was doing the run on my own as I couldn't get any family or friends motivated enough to come along with me) but guilt got the better of me so 10.30am found my Other Half dropping me off at the gates of Lydiard Park in Swindon. First off, I felt somewhat at sea being on my own surrounded by an ocean of pink that was 3141 other 'runners'. A rather camp gym instructor took us through a warm up routine which I felt obliged to do seeing as I didn't really have any other plans.
I must say considering the sheer amount of people doing the event, the organisation was second to none. With five minutes to spare, three flag bearers were deployed; one for runners, one for joggers and one for walkers. The idea was to make your way to whichever flag best represented how you were planning on completing the race. I immediately headed off to the runners flag as I had resolved with myself that I was going to try my damnedest to beat my personal best for the distance and, if possible, to come in under 25 minutes. More years ago than I care to remember, I did my first (and only) Race for Life in Dorchester and not being race savvy at that point, did my usual trick of starting too far back and getting held up. Well, today I decided to be Little Miss Pushy and I was going to be right at the front of the start line if it was the last thing I did. Well, miracles upon miracles, I didn't actually have to push in and there I was, tape to chest with a few minutes to spare. By this point I did actually get a bit nervous, what if I wasn't as good as I thought I was and was I in danger of being overtaken by a flood of runners?
Too late to worry about it, we set off right on time (once again Race for Life organisers, I really have to take my hat off to you). A few people did overtake me right at the beginning but I soon settled into a nice, fast (well, for me) rhythm and by the half mile point I calculated I was in twelfth place. The route was a mixture of grass and gravel trail so really lovely going. By the first 1k I had picked off several runners and was lying in seventh place. The pacing was just perfect, faster than I would run a 10k but not so fast that I didn't feel I could sustain it (plus, the course was pretty much flat so that helped). However, at the 3k mark we hit a slight slope (I hesitate to refer to it as a hill) and I managed to pick off the sixth and fifth placed runners so by the top of the slope (mini hill) I was lying in fourth place! To say I was elated would be an understatement. For someone who moans (a lot) about hills on races they seem to be my friend. In all four races I have done, I have overtaken several runners going up hill and, more importantly, not had them overtake me back once the hill flattened out again. By this point I had lost sight of the runners in first and second place as the course was quite twisty-turny but the third placed lady was firmly in my sights and I spent the next 2k trying desperately to catch up with her only to be thwarted. At one point I did seem to be gaining (there was about 30 yards between us) but I just couldn't find that extra push I needed and there we remained. I managed a bit of a sprint finish and there were loads of people lining the route home who were cheering and clapping so that was a great boost. Results are:
Time: 23:20
Position = 4 out of 3142
Yes folks, you read that right, my time was 23:20 so I beat my personal best by over 3 minutes. Happy, happy, happy is the only way to describe how I felt crossing that finish line. The fourth place was also rather lovely, but I am not so naive as to class the Race for Life as a true race but still, I was happy enough. Heart FM were present at the event and their photographer was taking pictures at the finish line so hopefully there might be a photo of me on their website tomorrow.
The most surprising thing of all is that I actually really enjoyed running a 5k and I am now very tempted to find a few more races. Lydiard Park hosts the weekly parkruns on a Saturday morning so I think I may just have to get me along to some of those to see if I can better my time and get it to under 22 minutes as my next goal.
Oh, and I raised £85 for Cancer Research so thank you to all my sponsors x
Congratulations!
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