First 5K race report

[Catho78]

I completed my first 5K race today - race for life.

The atmosphere was beautiful and moving. Seeing the names of everyone people were running for was emotional and uniting. I was running for my colleague who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, and for my friends and VRBs who are also sadly affected by cancer. The picture is of the t shirt I wore, it said what I wanted us to be.

We started with a fun group warm up then we were put in places for runners and walkers. I was excited to be in place as a runner for the first time ever. I set my garmin as we were counted down then we were off!

And boy did I fly, slapping high fives to those cheering us on, only for the first minute or two as I got caught up with the crowd and buzz, and I soon realised this pace would not last. I checked my garmin for my pace and it was 6min/km! I average 9:10min/km 🙈 I started to apply the brakes as best I could and half a km in I was at my usual pace again but my heart rate took a while longer to recover.

The course was on a show ground and was a mixture of grass, gravel and pavement. I normally run around my neighbourhood on pavements or roads so grass was new to me and harder work than I expected, and the course was not as flat as they said 🤨 lol. Still I plodded on at my comfortable pace, I wasn’t at the front and I wasn’t last and it was great to be running amongst others (normally lone wolf) after the same goal, and still seemed surreal after Covid restrictions.

The volunteers were great cheering us on and showing us the way. My friend phoned me after 3km to cheer me on, I said I’ll meet her at the finish line, I said I can’t see it yet (zigzag course) but I’m determined to find it lol. I had some good music motivating my run and before I knew it I rounded the corner to the finish line and managed a sprint finish (for me, not 6km/min though lol).

We were told that everyone running had raised £69,000 for cancer research. The medal was the cherry on the cake.

[Jools2020 Graduate]

Such a worthy cause and a great run for you! I can only imagine how moving it was. Well done for the run. I know this was a special run, but I wonder if you might like to run with others more often!

[Catho78 Graduate in reply to Jools2020]

Thanks. Yeah I was wondering the same, I’ve signed up for a 10km run in 9 weeks time so I’ll see how that goes and maybe consider a local running group. I thought it’d be a bit intrusive running with others but I loved the unspoken solidarity of group running.

[Jools2020 Graduate in reply to Catho78]

You can do both then you’ll have the best of both worlds!

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

Congratulations on completing that Run for Life 5K Catho78, I hope you are very proud of yourself 😊 🏃🏾 well done 👍£69,000 wow, excellent, enjoy wearing your 🥉 medal with pride.

[Catho78 Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

Many thanks

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Very very well done you! A wonderful cause and a wonderful race too!

[Catho78 Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Thanks for your support

[Vespina Graduate]

Glad it went so well and congratulations on the run and being part of such a fantastic fundraising achievement. Heading out fast is pretty usual but you settled and finished, so a nice recovery. Here’s to the next one.

[Catho78 Graduate in reply to Vespina]

Thanks, yeah I tried to run as normal and was shocked as to my initial pace, I didn’t feel I had set off fast, it’s deceptive but great atmosphere. Learnt from it, I’ll be a lot further back in the pack fir the next race, can’t wait now, it’s an exciting feeling 🏃🏽‍♀️🏅

[Vespina Graduate in reply to Catho78]

Yeah, just shows the power of running with others. Most important thing is that you had fun and reset your pace to finish. Brilliant job.

I bet next time if you start further back you’ll end up overtaking loads of people (although to be fair, I really like doing that 😆).

[Catho78 Graduate in reply to Vespina]

Lol good plan, definitely starting way back for my 10 K, I overtook a few walkers but it still felt good lol

[TimeInNature Graduate]

Congratulations

[Catho78 Graduate in reply to TimeInNature]

Many thanks

[BrokeyNotSoBusted Graduate]

Congratulations, sounds like you had a blast and a run for a great cause too. Well done you 👏

[Catho78 Graduate in reply to BrokeyNotSoBusted]

Thanks, definitely good fun