What fun that was! Absolutely brilliant. Left home at 7:30am on my scooter and froze myself to death as far as Haymarket in Central London. Parked up in a bay in Charles II Strreet and made my way towards the meeting point at the War Rooms. Before too long, so many HU Forum chums had arrived - Aliboo, boz, Juicyju, TurboTortoise, Getting fitter, Aussie, c4ats, beads, realfoodieclub, Vicky, Sue, Karen, Miles_Yonder and loads of other friendly folk amongst many others.
Juicyju, Vicky and I set off to the start line to gauge the lie of the land, so to speak, and get a gauge of the "vibe". Juicyju visited the facilities as I stood guard outside in case any freakish person tried the door whilst she was otherwise engaged. There were Polar Bear people there to give you a "hug" if you so desired, but I refrained from such close proximity to a stranger and carried on walking toward the start line.
We had been given start times but these quickly got cast aside as the throng of people approached the start line area. Juju, Vicky and I made our way to the start area, where we heard a rousing "Go for it" speech by Jo Pavey (couldn't bloody see her) and we all moved forward ten yards. We STOPPED as the first "wave" went out. It turned out that we were in WAVE 2 and as the people gathered around us, the temperature of our bodies rose to comfort levels. Up until NOW we were ABSOLUTELY F***ING FREEEEEEEEZING!!!!! I'm not kidding folks, it was cuttingly cold out there. And once wwe'd jettisoned out warm "throw away" tops, we were all shivering like bast**ds!!
At least we were off. Vicky tore off like a mad woman. Juicyju and I decided to run together to give each other moral support. We had the most idyllic run together - chatting occasionally, checking each other every now and again to make sure we were "ok" and the kilometre markers came and went SOOOOOO quickly!! It really helped running along with someone who was the same speed. I had no desire today to get a PB - I just wanted to enjoy the fun of it. The pace Juju and set ourselves was PERFECT. Not too slow, but not so fast that we'd get completely knackered.
At K9 I suggested we pick up the pace, for a glorious finish. As it was, we were both getting a bit tired at this stage and as we approached the finish line, I grabbed her arm - linking it into mine and said "we are gonna finish at the SAME TIME baby!". We crossed the line in unison and breathed heavily. We had DONE it in around 58 minutes and some change.......
Body temperatures dropped considerably incredibly quickly after the finish. I ran off to my scooter to put on another top and also another pair of trousers over my running tights. Juju and Vicky sauntered off to the very posh Charing Cross Hotel where we all met up for a chat later. TurboTortoise joined us before we left for the giant Blue Cock on Trafalgar Sq to meet with other folks. We took pictures, some of which I hope will end up on here!!
So here's the conundrum......
I checked the website for results time and get this....Even though Juicyju and I set off and finished at EXACTLY the same time, hers was 59'42 and mine was 1 hour 11 mins 12 secs?????? WHAT the F*** is that all about???????? Clearly the chips they gave us are a pile of sh**e and didn't work. Ah well, today for me wasn't about time -- it was about meeting up with all the fab C25K'ers and having a blast.
The pic is Vicky, me and Juju before the start line. Juicyju did make aVLOG so watch out for that as it co-stars "yours truly" as we traversed the mighty course!
Thanks for reading. Lets do it all again next year. It can be our "annual" meet up gig!!
Yer pal
Dan
Written by
danzargo
Graduate
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Great to meet you Dan. Aussie and I ended up in Wave 5 so timed it perfectly. We did our own thing and I got an official PB. As my first real race it was superb. Don't understand your chips I think you can put a query into the website. Fantastic to put names to faces today. Hope your trip home is warmer
Great report Dan. How fab was it that you met up with so many C25K'ers? What a lovely memorable day. Hope you're sitting with your feet up and partaking of a little recovery drinkie.
I have been trying to do the exercises but it is soo painful. This morning when I got up it had seemed to have eased a bit so I thought I would go out and try and have a gentle run . I had gone about ten minutes and had to stop, it was agony
I have been sat here with a hot water bottle on my hip all afternoon. The only thing that seems to relieve it is if I walk on my tip toes.
I wont be risking running again thats for sure. I am just going to see what happens when my X Rays come back.
So Im down but not out, just panicking a bit about my 10K in May xxx
Oh Pops this is such bad news!! Didn't realise you were in quite so much pain. You've got loads of time before your 10k so don't worry sweetie, although I can understand why you're feeling a bit panicky. I'm sending you lots of cyber hugs and virtual ibuprofen gel to supplement what you're taking. Chin up, not long until you get your X-rays back and you can start to get those pesky hips sorted out. Xxxx
Yep, I couldve sat on the kerb and cried today. I just want to know what it is, whats causing it and more importantly how can I get rid of it and make sure it never comes back .
Oh Patience Pug !, Deep breaths Pug, Deep breaths , OMMMMM......
I was feeling really positive, cos I thought it was getting better , but this has brought me down again.
I WILL get better though, I know that. I just have to keep thinking that and keep my chin up ! xxx
If it's any consolation, daughter no 2 was literally screaming in pain from her hip following a ballet injury. She had X-rays and an MRI but the surgeon finally recommended anti inflammatories 3 times a day as the best way to sort it, as nothing was actually torn, just bruised and swollen. The physio reckoned Pilates was the best treatment. My point is, that she was in so much pain we were convinced she'd never be able to dance again or, at least, it would be a long recovery. In the end though, she was back en pointe after only about a month. Fngers crossed, you'll be back up and running very soon xxxx
Poppypug I went through a nasty hip thing almost 2 years ago now, also got x-rayed but it turned out to be a muscular tear. It took me out of running for over a month, and like you I feared that was it. But here I am these days plodding along quite happily, I'm sure you will too once this is sorted. xx
Sounds like such a great day out. I've just watched JJs vlog and you two look like you're having a whale of a time. Such bad news about your chip time. Hope you can get it sorted out
The most important is you enjoyed it! And at least you know your time thanks to JJ-
Well done!
Happy running.
I don't know who to reply to as there are lots of great stories and pictures. Well done to you all, sounds like a great event and great that you got to meet up!
Brilliant blog...just checked again and it says 59.54... That's wrong...my garmin said 58 something. However I really don't mind I had such a fab time running with you and meeting everyone!!
Great to meet up and as I said in an earlier post I saw you come across the finish line your time was wrong. Justice hopefully will prevail. What a great day.
Great to meet you yesterday Dan! I don't come on here very often now as a load of us are now in the FB group but just wanted to pop on and say Hi It was a fab day and loved meeting up with everyone.
Hope you get your chip time sorted but I know the frustration.....I did a race once using these bib chips rather than the shoe ones and it didn't register at all which was really annoying! Good job I had my trusty Garmin to record it for posterity!!
Hope we get to meet up again at some other race in the future for more shiny bling! Sue
Really great stuff, Dan. Great post, and a great run from you too. Was fantastic to meet you at last. I do heartily agree; this race could be our big annual C25Ker get together and it certainly looks like it's heading that way, with a good number of us already signed-up to next year's race already!
Hope the legs are working well after the race and that recovery is going nicely.
excellent to meet you dan, you are just as i imagined you would be(that IS a compliment!) and you and juicyju got round in style Glad you've got the chip time issue sorted!
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xxx
Sue 
London - Run - no fun 🙁
Cancer Research Winter Run London
Not enjoying winter running!
