Market Drayton 10 K

Well the big day came and although I’d not trained as hard as I possibly should I felt I was ready to run. I was up early and ready in plenty of time which seemed like a good plan even if it did give my nerves plenty of time to settle in. Infact I was probably as nervous as I used to be when I used to go on stage !!

I arrived at The Grove school in Market Drayton and began to queue to recieve my race number which turned out to be 789 … how cool is that ?? I’d gotten to Market Drayton which gave me plenty of time to wander around the field soaking up the atmosphere, picking up my souvenir t-shirt and even warming up with a run around the edge of the field but before I knew it, the race was steady to start.

My heart was racing ten to the dozen as they counted down and we were off. We did a lap of the field with hundreds of spectators cheering us on as we ran out of the school gates. The first mile and a half went by very quickly and saw us running around houses with even more people outside cheering and clapping.

Very soon I realised I’d have to slow down a bit, I’d been running quicker than I normally would and at that pace I’d tire myself out too quickly but it wasn’t easy, I found myself naturally trying to keep up with the pace of the other runners and this especially showed between miles 2 and 3 which were particularly hilly and by the end of, was wishing that I’d gone easy at the start.

Photo by Brian Dale: http://www.racephotos.org.uk/index.htm

Each mile after that became increasingly harder but the crowd really did help lift my motivation, I carried on and soon the miles started passing me by, I spotted people I knew on the streets which only made me run faster. Upon re-entering the school gates for a final lap of the field I increased my pace until I was a couple of hundred metres away from the finish where I broke into a sprint and that was it … I’d completed the race.

I finished in 53 mins 28 seconds, 474th out of 957 which I’m incredibly proud of for my first time.

If you came down and supported me, thank you so much, I doubt without the clapping and cheers if I would have actually completed the whole thing. Thanks also if you’ve donated money to Severn Hospice which is the charity I’m running for.

I have a month till my next race which is in Liverpool, I think I can shave a minute off my total time there if I carry on with my training this month.

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