Morning all,
Aussie here with a magical Mother's Day race report.. this time from the Lidl Breakfast Run in Kingston. Running for Breast Cancer Care, I was "challenged" by some colleagues to add some extra touches to the pink running vest in return for additional donations. After a 25km long run on the 8th March, the 8.2 mile distance on Mother's Day is perfect tapering for the Richmond Half Marathon next weekend. What better excuse!
So, after selecting some sturdy wings, a magical wand and an awesome hot pink tutu, I was ready for race day! I decided to ditch the music and run to my own beat for the first time and I'm really glad I did... for so many reasons...
At around 8:30am we were ready to go and I'd decided to join the 9 min/mile pace group this time to push myself a bit in readiness for next week... with a minute between pace groups, it wasn't long until I was off and running...
The beauty (well, I wouldn't call myself a beauty but you see my point) of being without the music and headphones was the way I realized I could run, have a laugh and a chat with the other runners and settle into a lovely pace and really soak up the atmosphere... As you can imagine, the outfit caused quite a few spontaneous conversations, quite a few cheers and made for a great Mother's Day run...
I spent miles 5-7 chatting with a lovely lady and another bloke (who were doing the 16 mile distance) about their preparations for the London Marathon (wow) and how we'd all got into running late in life and that 12 months ago doing this sort of thing would have been out of the question... 7 miles into a run and we're having a nice old chat at 9:30 min/mile pace! Amazing!
It was about then I realized that running wasn't just about fitness, it wasn't just about the training and the hard miles (and the intervals, the hills) but that actually it was about getting out every now and then, running with other people and enjoying what we're doing.. Fitness has become fun! Running has a social side... I loved every mile...
At mile 7, I excused myself with a "well, I best be off then for my sprint finish" and powered it home... the flying fairy overtaking a few folks and getting a massive cheer from the crowd as I entered the Kingston market place... Ran past a group of about 15 runners with a "follow the fairy home" shout and sprinted in to finish in 1:16:47, a full 5 minutes and 13 seconds faster than the last time around...
I did feel a bit sorry for the bloke I overtook with about 10 metres to go who muttered "awesome, beaten by a fairy" as we crossed the line! Haha!
The humbling bits of the day? Raising over £300 for Breast Cancer Care... awesome!
And my most humbling moment? I was approached by a guy after the race as I was getting my post race photos with the Breast Cancer Care folks who came up and said what a wonderful race I'd run and that he was determined to catch the fairy all the way around and tell me how well I was doing... only he never did quite catch me... he sent me a text later offering to donate and said "Good running! Thanks for pulling me round.."
The Aussie has gone from a non-runner to a "fairy pacer" in 12 months... to think someone else thought I put in a good race and that I actually challenged someone else to push themselves that little bit more was a truly humbling moment... I may not be fast, but I run with passion, enjoy every mile and if I can convince just one person to change their life then "long may it run on"...
Happy running y'all! Richmond HM race report next Monday... 
Aussie has been busy... 
