I DID IT!!! I ran the Race For Life in 39.24 and just beat my target time of 30.30!

The day of the race dawned cloudy, and I grew increasingly nervous as I dressed in my running kit and went with Paul to the Victoria Embankment in Nottingham, where the race would take place. We got a bit lost looking for the main staging area, and decided to follow a crowd of ladies in pink, who were clearly taking part as well. It turned out they were lost too, and we all ended up squeezing through a tiny gap in the hedge and stumbling onto the field like loonies. We then went to the Donation Station to drop off bags containing old clothes, which would be given to charity shops. Cancer Research estimates that each bag is worth an average of £10, and I had 2 bags. Yay me!

We wandered about a bit, picked up some freebies from Derby uni, including a pen that was also a bubble blower, and a squeezy penguin I named Tiamat. Paul halped me to pin my race signs on my front and back - my Race number was 489, and my dedication read "I race for life for Sue, and everybody who loved her". Although I ran for many members of my family who have suffered with cancer, I didn't want a list on my back - bit morbid.

After an aerobic warm-up, it was time to start. The runners were called first, and I said goodbye to Paul and moved toward the start. There was a countdown from 10, and then the claxton sounded... and nobody moved. Turned out that they were making people start in stages, and I was quite far back. Eventually I got running, and quickly realised that a load of walkers had rather rudely inserted themselves among the runners. This meant that i spent my whole race trying to get past solid walls of walkers. It was exhausting, frustrating, and time-consuming, but the atmoshere was great, and everybody was smiling and laughing together. Around the halfway point, the cloud cleared and we were hit my the full ehat of the midday sun. That really sapped the strength out of a lot of us. I'd been following 2 girls in stripey tops who were keeping a similar pace to me, but as the heat took it's toll, I dropped to a walk, and watched in dismay as they jogged on ahead. After a minute or so I was ready to run again, but the path had narrowed, and I ended up following some other runners up noto the grass to get around the walkers. There was dog poo everywhere - not pleasant. On the plus side, we were running beside the river and got a nice cheer from some people having a canoeing class.

Soon the course meandered away from the river and though some gardens. This was quite nice, but the ground was very undulating, and there were random patches of sand, which was causing people to slip. I ended up leapfrogging (not literally) this woman who would walk a bit and then run a bit. Her running pace was faster than mine, so she'd pass me, but because I was doing a steady pace, I'd pass her when she stopped to walk. She was quite annoying as the waved her arms quite vigourously as she walked, and that made it quite hard to pass her. Eventually the finishing line was in sight, and I glanced at my watch, fully expecting my target time to have passed ages go, but to my surprise it was only 38.03. I put on a burst of speed, aiming for a sprint finish. Unfornately I'd forgotten that the path by the start/finish line isn't direct, and I was dismayed to find that the path went straight past the finish line before winding back around to it. I quickly ran out of speed and jogged the rest of the way. At teh last corner I passed Paul with his video camera. It was so good to see a familiar face.

I finally crossed the line, waving my arms in the air in 39 minuites and 25 seconds - 5 seconds under my target time. Very close!!I collected my medal, and have worn it all day since! Very pleased with what I have achieved today. I wish I hadn't let the heat get to me, and that I'd run the whole thing - I could have achieved a better time, but the fact is that I still managed (by some miracle) to beat my target time, and raise a respectable amount of money for a good cause.

I'd like to thank all of my sponsors for their generosity and support, but most of all, I'd like to thank my lovely husband for training with me, and keeping my spirits up when I was full of self-doubt. Her deserves the medal more than I do. However it's pink so I doubt he'd wear it! 

This was my first time doing the Race For Life, and I'm sure those of you that know me well are having a bit of a chuckle at the thought of me running!   You can follow my training progress on my jogblog at http://www.runnersforum.co.uk/blog/Superfrogwoman.html