I had seen the event advertised by the charity Alzheimer's Society and had misunderstood that it was a bespoke event for the charity. As it's a charity very close to mine and my sister's hearts we entered.
I like running 10km and whilst my sister has done the distance before she had not taken part in an event for a while so wanted to get back into training. Perfect timing then so we signed up and setup our fundraising page.
I had been a little naughty this week in terms of alcohol intake and diet so I wasn't particularly expecting a fast time but I knew I would enjoy the race with it being set in such a gorgeous setting.
It was an early start but getting into the gardens for sunrise was lovely. The atmosphere was great and everyone was geared up for a good event. It turned out that it wasn't an event for just our chosen charity as there were many other runners with t-shirts for other charities so it was going to be a much bigger race than I thought.
David Weir fired the gun for the youngsters wheelchair race which started about 30 minutes prior to the 10km road race.
After cheering on the youngsters, a couple of bananas later and a warm up and it was time to line up at the start for our race. Jo Pavey (fresh from her Commonwealth Games victory) was running and was actually lining up just in front of me, Perhaps I could have her as my pacemaker?
We set off and within 50 meters it was clear there was a reason she won Commonwealth Gold and I was just in the crowd watching! She disappeared along with the leaders into the distance (although I could still see one leader ahead.)
Running in Kew Gardens was really beautiful and flat! A real treat when running I can assure you. We circumnavigated the gardens and then exited and made our way down to the river where we followed the path all the way to Richmond. I was quite far behind the leaders so couldn't always see them but also didn't have anyone near me so it looked like I was out for a training run on my own (apart from the number stuck to my t-shirt.)
Running by the river was good and also flat. Coming into Richmond I knew I was nearly home and could hear the men behind me drawing closer and before long I could see their shadows creeping up. A couple of them passed me in the last 400 meters but I kept going as hard as I could. The last stretch was hard as it was slightly uphill and it went in an almost full circle around the park teasing you that the end was closer than it really was.
In the final stretch I knew I could potentially beat my PB and pushed as hard as I could. I crossed the line 13 seconds ahead of my best in a time of 36 minutes 23 seconds. Yay! My time meant that I finished in 9th place overall out of 1,320 runners.
A flapjack, bottle of water, carton of coconut juice and a photo with Jo Pavey (first lady over the line and second place overall) and I was ready to rest and stretch on the grass!
Shortly afterwards my sister also crossed the line in a PB time too!
We have raised over £800 for Alzheimer's Society and with the race results I think we can say it was a successful event!
Should you wish to still donate then our fundraising page is here https://www.justgiving.com/Natalie-Michael
In the meantime here are some pictures from the event.
David Weir and the young wheelchair competitors at the start:
Me at the start (Ms. Pavey in the front!)
Me and my new mate Jo at the end! She congratulated me on my PB:
Me and sis at the end!
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