It seems like a long week to me. Only one week ago today since I did the Chester Half marathon. What a wonderful day it was. A big thank you to our friendly and accommodating landlord for making breakfast earlier for us so we would get to the run on time. It was a gloriously hot day and any other time I would welcome a beautiful summer's day but not today. So I accepted that the run would take me longer than expected. It started at 9am on the racecourse. I was wearing my Garmin runner on my wrist which Glynn bought me from christmas and started it when we got the start line and thus started to run. This was 9.10am.
In the early stages, this run has a couple of hills but it did flatten
out and had great views everywhere. I would certainly do this run again.
The first water station appeared at mile 3 and according to my Garmin I
was 2 minutes ahead of schedule at each mile marker, i.e when I got to
mile 3 I had ran 3 miles 2 minutes. This started to tally with the
course at mile 6 when I went to a portaloo. There were plenty of water stations and one had a lady giving out bags of jelly beans. Two or three bands along the way as well. A very pleasant experience. After10.5 miles my fingers started to feel stiff and I flexed them abit and noticed they had swollen! This reminded me of Brighton all over again though I'm relieved to say I felt absolutely fine other than bigger than normal fingers. I was wearing my starfish ring on my left hand and tried to get it off, unsuccessfully.
I found it hard to believe I was dehydrated after all the fluids I had drank even though I was sweating and had sweets of my own. Like I say though, I felt fine and knew I was going to get the rest of the way without any problems. That is exactly what I did! In this photo on the right >>>>>
the guy photographing me from behind is my partner Glynn. How he manages to snap me during my runs like he does is amazing. Most of the pix here are his :) So when I saw the finish line up ahead of me I just ran for it, such a great feeling. I was happy to get my medal (and goodie bag) which is very big and I did feel like I had quite a weight around my neck. The clock said 3 hours and 22 minutes but my Garmin tallies with my official certificate with a time of 3 hours and one minute. I am happy with this given the weather. I had my official photo taken and then Glynn caught up with me.
Then I went to the St John's tent where I met some lovely caring folks who inquired about my fluid intake. They concluded that I had drank to much and it all went to my fingers! Hard to believe I know, the last thing I expected. They took my blood pressure which was fine and gave me a packet of crisps whilst advising me to go to hospital if things didn't improve. Once I was home for a while and just before I had a salty meal of sausage and chips, my finger returned to normal size and I was able to remove the ring. Anyway after leaving the tent I posed for some proud after run photo's with my medal.
What a day, very memorable and I am glad to have done it. I can now say I have ran around a race course as well as an olympic stadium. This run was dedicated to 2 friends who sadly passed away last year and I spent a great deal of this day thinking about them. Suzanne Fleischman-Druge Gilbert and Margaret Lynn Hall. Thank you for looking after me today ladies, miss you lots xxx The dedication on my t-shirt, which is the same both sides is unfortunately unreadable from the photo's. It reads 'This year, my angels run with me. Suzanne Fleischman-Druge Gilbert..... Margaret Lynn Hall. Dedicated to those who supported our cause, even while losing thier own battles against cancer and addiction'
As I write I am still collecting sponsorship for The Rutger Hauer Starfish Association who help HIV positive women and children all around the world and also help spread awareness of this harrowing disease. It is never to late to sponsor me however :) I foyu would like to support me and help others in thsi way please do get in touch. No donation is too small and as a non-profit every penny, cent etc counts. Thank you very much and take care!
Sarah Murray, UK
