I may be a "lurker" nowadays, but I ran my first HM today!

[Pianism]

Hi everyone. I completed C25k early last year and have been running fairly consistently since then, with a bit of a lockdown meltdown in the middle! I knew I needed to get a challenge in place so a few weeks ago I set today as the date for my half-marathon (in lieu of running the Great Manchester Run, which was cancelled).

I have the most wonderful set of running buddies, some of which I met through HealthUnlocked, and quite a few of them decided to join me today to run a bit of a "relay" so I didn't have to do any of it alone, which was a real bonus.

So myself, RunaroundSue , Mr RaS, Sharon (I forget her username on here) and BaddieThePirate met up at Parsley Hay at the head of the Tissington Trail and I set out for Ashbourne. A lovely run through Derbyshire, pretty much all downhill, with car parks along the way where my running buddies changed over. We met our friend Mark (I don't know his username on here) at Tissington itself and he ran the final 6k or so with me.

I have to say, I was exhausted by the end, but I can't imagine a nicer alternative to the Great Manchester Run. And the lovely GMR people will be sending me this fabulous medal through the post as a lovely memento.

I love running!

[RunaroundSue]

It was a lovely day. Everything went well, including the weather. I really enjoyed meeting everyone after such a long break.

Thank you for letting us join you.

[Katnap Marathon]

Wow! And you were on the IC back in February so that's some recovery! 👍😁👍

🐱 Katnap 🐱

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

What a wonderful way to run your first HM. Great memories to go with a great achievement! Congratulations 👏👏👏

[Chris141 Half Marathon]

Well done!

[Forest_Run_Beginner Marathon]

Wow, that's amazing and sounds like the perfect alternative way to do it under the current circumstances. I hope you celebrated well yesterday your new Half Marathon badge looks really good on you. Well done and here's to many more happy runs to come 🍾🥂🎊🥳🎉🏅🏅👍🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

[JonathanP 10 Miles]

Fantastic Pianism! Amazing comeback after your previous foot problems!🥇👍

[O505k Half Marathon]

Congratulations, great achievement. 🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️

[GoGo_JoJo Ultramarathon]

fantastic day out with lovely people and a super achievement! 👍🏻😁

[RunaroundSue]

I posted about the logistics ( Pianism had the easy part, he only had to run )

in a reply to the (not) parkrun post on Bridge to 10K

healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...

[TailChaser Marathon]

That’s wonderful Pianism!! You’ve done brilliantly! I think you need those supporters on your first HM these days without the organised runs - I know I couldn’t have done mine without them. And a beautiful route too. Well done! 👏👏👏👏

[Granspeed]

🎉👏🏼🎉 Fabulous achievement. Well done and congratulations. A well-deserved medal, in every way. 🎶🎵🎶🎉

[Hidden]

This is fantastic!! A real milestone distance and a terrific achievement. You did it!! 🎽

What a really memorable way to complete it as well with friends and a lovely route. I'm so pleased for you because this really is an epic achievement. Congratulations, you really deserve it 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

[Dexy5 10 Miles]

Half Marathon! How brilliant Pianism and congratulations. I was really heartened to read how RunaroundSue organised the support party. Hopefully they didn’t speed you up with their fresh legs

You did it and that medal will remind you of that Running friendship .

🎶🎶🎵🎶🎵🏃‍♂️🥳 🏅🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

[RunaroundSue in reply to Dexy5]

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with him for my whole stint but it was a good pace for me. Until Mark joined us and speeded up a bit.

[misswobble Marathon]

👍😃 Tissington is lovely. You can race it from Ashbourne 🌪🏅

Monsal is a fab run too

Hopefully there’ll be races there before too long. Several members from here were running it. I ran it virtually and got the medal

[Pianism Half Marathon in reply to misswobble]

Ooh, that'd be uphill all the way though!

[Wimborne Half Marathon]

That’s brilliant P. What a fantastic achievement to run aHM. Huge well done 🥳🥳🥳👏👏👏

[Pianism Half Marathon in reply to Wimborne]

Thank you

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Many congratulations to you, it’s a very memorable achievement and how extra special to be able to share it with friends. You should feel proud. Lovely bling too 🏅🙂

[Pianism Half Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

Thank you. Yes, it was certainly made especially memorable by the posse.

[Buddy34 Half Marathon]

Congratulations on your first HM and what a lovely way to run it with company of your running buddies. Its a great feeling to complete that distance even if you were exhausted. Hopefully you've recovered now.

Once again , congratulations 🏃‍♂️👏👏🥇

[SlowLoris]

Cool.

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

How wonderful Pianism, and running relay with your running buddies made it the perfect day. Fantastic! 👏👏👏

[BaddieThePirate]

It was great to be a part of your HM. It got me out for the first time this week (Idid 8km. Pales in to insignificance next to your amazing effort, but I enjoyed it.) It was super to see everyoneaftwr so long. You achieved an amazing run, well done 👏💥⚡️🏅

[Irish-John Marathon]

Well done!