I'd entered a 5K race for Life this morning, without telling anyone who knew me, so there was no support party and I had just taken hubby to the train station to set off on a foreign trip. That's fine. I like my own company and other runners are easy to talk to. Standing in the (100 yard long) queue for the Portaloos before the start I found myself next to a lady of about my age. We compared notes on who we were running to remember (my best ever friend Ronny) and I asked if she was running the 5K too. 'No, I'm doing the 10K' she said.'Though I won't be running it-just walking'. My brain started sizzling. 'Do they check your name to see if you've entered?'
'Oh no', she replied, 'it's all very casual.'
Ten minutes later as the field divided after the first kilometre I found myself heading for the 10K channel. A marshal waved me back towards the right hand side. 'That way for the 5K love' he said. That did it. 'Don't I look as if I can do it?' I asked indignantly and pounded past him.
All went well for the first 7K as I ran for 5 minutes and walked for 1 as per my training plan. Marshals kept trying to redirect me to the 5K course but I ignored them. I even allowed myself little smiles as I glanced down at my lovely new luminous green Garmin and was told I was 'on pace' (I'd set it for a 7 minute per K mark to do the 5K). But at the 8K mark I started to really struggle. It was incredibly hot under the midday sun in the centre of a racecourse and there was only one watering station.I finally asked an onlooking ambulanceman for a water bottle- I told him it might save him a job later. I don't think he was expecting me to pour it all over myself...
At the 9K mark the track turned rough and gravelly and my run walk ratio dropped to 1:1 (a minute of each) but a lot of people seemed to have had dropped to a permanent walk in front of me so I gritted my teeth and kept going. And then, finally the end was in sight and the local radio station DJ was cheering people on and giving their life stories as they passed the finish line. What would he say about ME I wondered. I broke into my old lady's version of a sprint as I reached the last 100 yards and was rewarded by the comment "And here comes Pam, one of the last of the 5K runners over the line. Well done Pam'.
'I've just run 10K' I shrieked at him. 'Oh, she says she's run 10K' he told the crowd doubtfully. 'Ok. well done anyway!'
Afterwards I found the reason for the confusion was not because I looked too ancient and decrepit to run a 10K as I suspected but because my running bib was lined with pink, signifying 5K entry, while the official 10K people had blue linings.
So my paranoia was ill-founded and I had done it! And my time as verified by Strava was a startling 1 hour 16 minutes 30 seconds. I wasn't really supposed to fulfill my New Years resolution of running 10K until the Leeds Race for Life on July 20th. I'd set myself a target of 1 hour 30 minutes for that. Looks like I may have to adjust it.
Oh, yes, I forgot to mention my foot. Well, I strapped it up firmly, took an ibuprofen beforehand and iced it when I got home and so far I seem to have stunned it into submission!
Written by
turnturtle
Graduate
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Fantastic awesome amazing TT. Go you!!! So pleased it all went well for you ( and your foot) You should be so proud of yourself. Bloomin good, very respectable time too!
OMG I love this post. Just shows what guts pig headedness and sheer determination can achieve. Well done you, but so sorry you had no one to cheer you on
I knew you were all there in spirit with me Granny Didn't notice any other C25K graduate T-shirts though-even though they were the perfect colour for today. How disappointing. I keep thinking we're a really big community but maybe we're just small and select.
Great post, well done I love your determination. I bet you feel great, make sure you share your fanatsic day with your freinds and family now, you deserve all the praise.
OMG girl, you rock! Whoop whoop! So proud of you. Your Garmin would have tracked your full 10k wouldn't it? So when you tell your tale you can say look, here it is! I'm not a slow 5k runner but a flippin awesome C2 10k runner! Best post I have read in ages! And I've read some amazing posts! So inspirational! And to do it in secret with no support! Like I said, you rock! Xx
Well my Garmin would have tracked me the whole way had I remembered to charge it before I Ieft home PR. Didn't dare tell my techy son that. It gave up the ghost after 6K. Fortunately I had my iphone in my back pocket as a back-up so good old Strava recorded the whole thing.
Thank you all my lovely friends. Off to bed now with a bellyful of strawberries and cream washed down with just a soupcon of good red wine. Himself is away so I think the dogs may even be allowed up on the bed tonight.
I am feeling goodwill to all men and beasts. Night night. x
O.M.G!! How things turn out , I bet yesterday at this time you wouldn't have thought you would be completing a 10 k er , how fantastic !! & a great time . You should be very very proud . Congratulations well done you .
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
How fantastic; I'm chuckling away reading that, you rebel, you! 
Back where I started?
Getting back to running after nearly 9 months. Where do I start? I thought week 3
Well that's it... I did it - where's my badge?
W0W - My first 10k race and I wasn't even last!
Well I wasn't expecting that.
