My first run of the campaign took place in an area of London I'm quite fond of; Greenwich. I'd been there a number of times the previous year, principally to see Monty Python reunite at the O2 arena. I had never, however, been to Greenwich Park.
The logistics of my travelling to London were a little complex. In order to save money, I had decided to travel up on Friday, stay with a friend for free, do the run on Saturday morning and then return that afternoon. Due to a miscommunication with dates, I was unable to stay with my friend and didn't fancy forking out for a hotel. As such, I left Swansea on the National Express at 2am, changed at Heathrow at 7am, and arrived in London Victoria at 8am. After a number of tube connections, I arrived in Greenwich with plenty of time to spare at 9ish.
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| My camera skills didn't do justice to the spectacular views over London |
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| Set up and ready; just needs runners! |
Greenwich Park was easy to find, and it really was quite lovely. The park was bigger than I expected, and it took a little longer than I anticipated to find "the Bandstand" where BHF had set up their bold red camp, ready for the race.
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| I wasn't the only one running! |
I arrived about an hour before the run was due to kick off. There were lots of volunteers on hand but very few runners. I was worried. I took the time to talk to some of the volunteers and scope out the event; there were no running chips but there was a running clock - I made a note of this so I would be able to record my time later. They were giving out race t-shirts and I dutifully went to pick one up but purposefully didn't wear it for two reasons; firstly, I wanted to stand out in the inevitable sea of red t-shirts, and secondly, I wasn't even raising money for the British Heart Foundation and didn't want to seem false. In my defense, I have participated in and raised money for BHF events in the past and it is a charity that has a special place in my heart (pardon the pun) but for me the focus is very much on Diabetes at the moment.
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| A hearty bit of face-painting |
These hearts later merged with my sweat to create a stain of blood face-paint along the side of my face. Whilst on the tube returning home, a concerned stranger asked if I was ok, pointing out the obvious bloodstains on my face.
At 09:45, the 1k fun-run kicked off. The future Mo Farahs and Usain Bolts of the world set off from the start line for a little stretch around the block. One particularly adorable youngster looked as if he had only just started walking, let alone running.
At 10:15, all the runners were called to the Bandstand, where the previously-mentioned DJ-guy was still trying to get everyone pumped up. This is where the real magic happened. What had previously been a small handful of people quite quickly turned in to a really large collection of people, all with their own different reasons for running. We were given a few generic speeches and then introduced to two young boys (around 4 and 6) whose grandfather had suffered heart problems his entire life. In voices trembling with excitement, authority and nerves, they thanked us for running, told us to have fun and filled mostly everyone's face with a smile. Then their grandfather came to thank the BHF, and us, the fundraisers (me guiltily lowering my gaze), for enabling him to live long enough, despite his heart conditions, so that he could see his children, and grandchildren, grow up around him.
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| A few more people this time; now it's a race! |
Then it was off to the start line to wait for the 10 second countdown and begin. My usual race strategy is to start somewhere in middle, or towards the back. The reason for this is because I push myself to overtake people and I feel better when I do, so having people in front who I can soon overtake is incredibly motivating.
As I crossed the start line, I noted the time 00:00:24. As there were no timing chips, I would need to remember to take 24 seconds off my final time.
The beginning of the race was, much like most races, a scramble to weave through the slow runners and find the runners of the same pace. This continued for the first kilometre or two until we got to the first hill. I must admit that I was rather unprepared for this first hill, as were a large number of people. I simply didn't expect it. Some people just didn't abide it, and started walking. This was my first boost of motivation, passing a throng of people on the first hill, before 2km.
The route was well laid-out, with distance markers every kilometre, adequate signposts and ample number of volunteers. Over the course, spectators shouted encouragement and clapped. Just before the fourth kilometre mark was another hill. Again, I passed a few older people on this hill and this gave me confidence. My mood was soured when on a number of corner-turns, I noticed a girl ahead of me cutting the corners.
After 5km, it was one more lap of the same circuit on the road to 10km. I noticed, as I passed the start line, that the clock was at just over 25 minutes. I would need to pick up the pace if I wanted a sub-50m time. The rest of the 5km was routine; I slowly overtook people on the first hill, was overtaken by a large number of people on one straight, but caught up with them at the next straight. As I reached the last hill, and the last 2km, I had two goals; overtake the guy in the bright yellow t-shirt and that bitch who kept cutting corners. I overtook the guy on the last hill, and heard his howls of rage fading in to the distance behind me (actually, he was panting a lot from the difficulty of the hill). After cresting the hill, I saw her. Gracefully running in front of me, she leapt care-free over the grass, forgetting entirely about the path and the route marker. I scowled as I ran dutifully around the marker points. I found it hard to slowly make up the distance between us and then she did it again. By this point I was livid and there was less than one kilometre to go.
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| 00:50:28 on the clock! |
I hastily took a really bad quality picture of the clock as I crossed the finish line, noting that my time was 50 minutes and 28 seconds. Taking my 24-second delayed start off the clock left me with a rather disappointing 50:04 (5 seconds slower than what I would have liked!)
Overall, the first run was very positive. The sun was shining, the atmosphere was great, the scenery was beautiful, and the time really wasn't terrible. The course itself was a little hilly, with some winding routes. There was just enough variety to make it challenging and fun without it being difficult.
By the end of the day, the total raised was £89.32, which was unfortunately a little short of the £100 target I had anticipated.
Total money raised: £89.32
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