I signed up to this race as part of my training for the ½ marathon in Barcelona in February and this was going to be the furthest I had run officially. Like any race I had set myself a target time, this being 1 hour 50 mins or 11 minute miles whichever looked better!
I decided to take it easy at parkrun the day before and had a gentle run whilst making arrangements to collect Natalie, Pat and Sarah the next morning for the drive to Canterbury.
The day started early with a bowl of porridge before we headed off down the motorway where the weather was not looking too bright. The weather reports suggested it would be cold and foggy and it was not wrong. The race headquarters was a hive of activity and we met with the other club members to have the obligatory selfie before we made our made our way to the start line.
The race started through a built up area but very quickly became open countryside although we could barely see due to the fog. Picturesque villages were also passed through and I am sure on a summer’s day they would be wonderful. Sadly the weather did not do them justice but we were not there to admire our surroundings!
The first few miles passed quickly and it seemed we were already halfway through the race and able to take on much needed liquid at the water station. At mile 6 we knew we were heading back and Natalie, Belinda and I were comfortably in our stride. Natalie provided us with jelly babies to keep up our energy levels although I was still struggling with the cold conditions. My feet were numb and I had to keep wiggling my toes to keep the blood circulating. It wasn’t long before we approached the final hill and Peter’s training came in handy as I remembered to keep my head up, elbows back and kept my knees up to make it to the summit and back on level terrain.
The last mile was soon in sight as we made our way back past the houses and on to the finishing straight. I could see the timer ahead and I pushed on to chase Belinda to the finish line with Natalie hot on my heels. My chip time was 1hr 47mins and 48 secs so comfortably within my target and set me up nicely for Barcelona a few weeks later.
A medal, cereal bar and water greeted us as we made our way back to the headquarters where we were able to catch up with the other BVAC runners. I had to hurry back home as football was due to kick off at 4pm and for the first time in seven or eight seasons I was late getting to my seat but it was worth it as I held on to my earlier achievements of the day.