Sorry to be so late to the party but we were in the van last night on a site with no phone signal or WiFi 😖😥
First panic was when I realised when passing Oxford that I had left my water bottle and Tailwind at home, but a quick plea on the What’s App group and the offer of a bottle from Oldgirlruns (which I must remember to return!) and a surreptitious sliding across the restaurant table on Saturday evening by Dexy5 of a small plastic bag of white powder and I was sorted. Then, having tossed and turned all night, I finally fell into a deep sleep and woke at 7.56 for our breakfast date at 8.00 with cheekychipmunks and Mr Cheeky 😂
Anyway, we met up with TailChaser in Reception to walk to the race as the speedy Katnap was in an earlier wave, stopped to watch the elite runners set off (including the incredible Eilish McColgan, who won her 3rd GSR in a course record of 50.43. Astonishing!) A 20 min loo queue meant our pre race meet up with Dexy David_G and JonathanP went up the Swanee. The 3 of us snook through a barrier to join to walk to the start while Cheeky tried to contact Mr Cheeky to collect her jacket and Dexy to finally meet up. Finally, 11 minutes after our wave started TailChaser and I crossed the start line. The crowds thinned out quickly and, adrenaline fuelled, the first mile went by slightly too quickly. By about 1.5 miles Tailchaser drew ahead of me. Fellow runners, the crowds, the musical groups and our very special Pom Pom crew carried me along as the sun came out. I was on target for a PB, if only just, when I hit a wall at 12k (always my danger spot) and had to walk a couple of times. Final time 1.51.51, just over 3 minutes slower than 2 years ago, but I finished 8346 out of 16000 and 122 in my female age group, so while not exactly what I hoped for, I can’t really complain. Would I do it again? You bet! Might do a bit more training before next year though 😂😂
x
If they’re running and we know it, wave your (pom)poms! 🥳🎉