What a busy day....
The day was spent taking in a couple of important historical sites in Stirling. At the Wallace Monument we walked up 246 spiral stone steps to reach the top and were rewarded with wonderful views all around, then at Stirling Castle in the afternoon we were treated to a entertaining tour by an enthusiastic guide! Both well worth a visit 
After a quick soup and bread at 5pm we returned to the hotel so I could get ready. Yes, of course there was a bit of faffing!! It was a clear, cold but dry evening (perfect in fact, I much prefer running in cool/cold conditions) so long sleeved base layer, pink running jacket, buff and gloves would be needed, then a thick warm jacket and woolly hat over the top to keep warm before the start.
6pm - drive and park at the Football stadium....getting excited now, then we walked to the gathering area with lots of other folk with their florescent jackets, luminous head gear and flashing lights. Some folk even had what looked like Christmas tree lights draped around them! I felt a little underdressed with my reflective jacket and a few 'neon' glow bands! We arrived at the park to be greeted by friendly marshals giving out head torches (which we could keep). The atmosphere was brilliant, music blaring, folk chatting, warming up and of course the inevitable long queue for the loo!! I kept warm by walking up and down with the doggie in his new florescent, reflective coat - he had to join in with the dressing up fun 
Next was the fun warm up - I was still wearing my thick coat and hat so I certainly did get warm doing the jumps, knee lifts etc. Nearly time....excitement rising...
The organiser then began calling out the 'pen' colours and people started to walk to the start line which was all lit up with colourful lights , sparkling and flashing against the dark night sky. I had a last quick faff - coat off, hat off, buff over my ears, adjusting the head torch, fiddling with phone!! Then....she called 'green', that was me... At last the countdown and we were off, well I say off but at walking pace due to number of starters. I jogged through the start and got into my stride then realised that most folk around me were going quite a bit slower. It was tricky overtaking, especially when groups ran next to each other taking up the width of the path! I dodged around a few people and ran around others onto the grass and the path became clearer as the crowd thinned out. I felt good, settled into a steady pace. I really enjoyed running in the dark (some areas of the course were less well lit), quite a different experience to running in the daylight ( I know ju-ju- and others love it!).
I noticed as I ran that there was a lady just in front of me running very smoothly, doing a slightly faster pace so I decided to use her as a 'marker' to keep me going. This worked well and helped keep me focused (I thanked her later when I spotted her at the finish). The route went right around the Kelpies which looked amazing all lit up (see previous post for photo) and then back down to the start via paths and road, over a wooden bridge and past swans on the lake.
A sign told me 1k to go and I was beginning to flag a little, I was probably going a little faster than usual due to the flat route and race excitement. I could hear the music and cheering getting louder and the final, grassy straight was upon me (phew, I could have done without that grass at the finish!). Across the finish line - yay, what a great run....but due to technical issues, pressing the wrong button on Runkeeper, I didn't have a time, never mind I felt good. I had a photo taken on the stage and then I needed photos of the Kelpies so we walked back along the route watching runners still on the course - kids, buggies, folk walking, all having a good time
Very well organised event and great fun, loved it. When we returned to the hotel I had a text message and to my surprise it was my results - I couldn't believe it....sub 30 minutes (28:38!!). 172 out of 1226 starters and 6/64 in my age category! What a buzz - thanks to C25k and all the support from all you lovely folk
W8R2 Race for Life 5k
Roy Castle virtual Easter 5K race
Thursday W9R3 Sunday 5K race with 1600 others
W8R3 completed at the first weekend of Twilight 5K Race for Life events
Proper race report tomorrow 
