Back in January this year, still reeling from the diagnosis of Melanoma & various surgeries my best friend encouraged me to join a local running club with her. Stroud & District Athletics club had an 8 week “starter” program designed to take the non–runner and get them to run for 30 minutes non stop at the end of the course.
We picked up the running bug and have been gradually increasing our running time & distance since then with the goal of 10k at Westonbirt…all for charity of course…It Takes 7 the British Skin Foundation charity that is dedicated to fund raising for Skin Cancer research.
I have hounded everyone I know constantly for sponsorship….and have thanked as many people as I could for their support along the way…
We trained….in the rain…or on hot evenings when running was the last thing any of us felt up to….and Monday 9th June crept closer and closer!
Yesterday morning it rained….in the afternoon it got hotter and hotter…the weather wasn’t sure what it was up to & quite frankly the butterflies in my tummy said that I wasn’t all too certain of what I had let myself in for either!
First of the confessions would have to be that I came straight home from work…jumped in the shower & popped on a face full of “slap”…& straightened my hair…for the photos you understand!!!
Talking of photos…The Mr became official photographer & the Little People shouted encouragement to me & everyone on the team from the side lines “you are amazing” “keep going” “come on mummy get those legs moving”!
I struggled to regiment my breathing & regretted carrying a water bottle that became a dead weight in my hands.
I passed the 2K marker thinking I was making great progress and must have been much much farther on & I actually swore…which considering I could barely speak was quite an accomplishment!
The finish line was in sight…the noise from the crowds willing me on.
And then it was done….10K in 1hour 5 minutes!
I am it has to be said pretty darned chuffed with the time…yes I think I can do better…but I did it…a year after being diagnosed with Melanoma…having never really run before…I just ran 10k in just over an hour!
As for my “team” …5 of my friends & I came together to run for this great charity…where literally 100% of what has been raised is going to research – immediately! One of my team had an injury during training and unfortunately has broken her hip putting her completely out of action…and 10K’s for a while!….another…bless him & his “superhero” ambitions, also signed up for the 3 peaks …which he will be doing next weekend!…One member of my team had a work secondment which took him away from training for 2 weeks, shortly followed by a knee injury which affected his training significantly.
One member…who shall remain nameless….got herself a tattoo on her foot 4 weeks before race day…meaning for 3 of those 4 weeks she couldn’t even do up her trainers laces let alone train!!!
And my bestie…well she did an amazing job too…and she has already started to plot our next running adventure!
Given the monumental moments of crisis & hysteria the fact that every single one of us finished before 1hr 15 minutes is a total credit to our running club trainer…and our motivation…
….we speak of motivation….
Melanoma is not nice.
It affects your soul & your mind frame in ways that I cannot even try to share……the physical & medical almost pale into insignificance.
I…..correction WE…have run for every single person with Melanoma…and all of the members of their family and circle of friends, for whom the torture of Melanoma and what it can do is on the horizon on a daily basis..
The “cures” that have been mentioned in the press over the last few weeks are unfortunately a long way off….2 or more years before they hit the market in a way that will actually benefit those that really truly need them.
And so…leaving you with lots of great photos taken of a moment in my life I will never forget I say thank you….
Thank you to my team…Fran, Anouska, Daniel, James & Sarah for being such great running buddies!
Thank you very, very much for every single £1 that you have sponsored…
Special thanks go to Cantillion King Advertising (website)& Pocock Rutherford (website) for their amazing corporate sponsorship xxx
All I wanted to do was run…to oxygenate my cells….and now look what we have started!!!