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Running the 5k Cancer research Race for Life

I was very nervous, but excited to be taking part in my first race. This was what my 6 weeks of training had been leading up to, and I felt proud to be involved in raising money for Cancer Research.

I didn't really know what time to aim for, but considering my training runs, thought I would be pleased to run around 40 minutes, and very pleased to run under 35 minutes.

It was quite daunting getting ready to run with another 900 women, all who looked to me as though they had been doing this kind of thing for years. John advised me to get near to the front of the start line, but, not feeling too confident, I waited patiently somewhere in the middle of the runners.

The course itself involved about 2.5k of uphill, followed by 2.5k of downhill. Having not discovered this until I reached the venue on the day of the race, I had not planned for this in my training!

I started the race at a steady pace. As we approached the steep incline I picked up my pace, thinking it better to run up fast and quickly than take my time and be tempted to walk! My body was struggling and I wanted to stop to walk a number of times but I kept reminding myself about the sense of achievement I would feel at the end of the race.

I thought the downhill section would be a breeze after running uphill but I was wrong! My legs were struggling and I felt a bit unsteady.

At about 3.5k I got chatting to another runner. She told me she was aiming to run the race in under 30 minutes, and was on target to achieve that at the moment. I thought 'WOW', if I keep up with her I will finish in around 30 minutes!! This gave me a real mental boost. At just over the 4k mark she gradually began to pull away from me. But I was still hopeful I would finish in less than 35 minutes.

As with any race, you begin to feel both relief and joy at seeing the finishing straight, and the crowd and atmosphere encourage run to continue running. The time on the clock as I finished was 27 minutes and 7 seconds! I was totally amazed, but also exhausted and remained breathless for a good few minutes afterwards.

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