I am never one to shy away from a challenge but I must admit I was nervous when my partner Duncan suggested running a half marathon to raise money for cancer charities. We settled on Hampton Court - great scenery, great history and most importantly, a flat route! - which took place on 15th March 2020.
We began our training in the New Year but when an awkward landing in a run during Storm Ciara injured my foot, our training was put on hold. I decided not to run too much before the big day for fear of aggravating it more. Come 9am on 15th March, we were 9 minutes away from starting and the furthest I had ever run was 10k. That sounds ok, doesn’t it? Except a half marathon is 21k. 13.1 miles. A LONG WAY let me tell you!
Several times I told Duncan I couldn’t do it. Several times I slowed to a walk. Several times I got bored and wished it would be over. But I didn’t stop, and with Duncan’s encouragement, we kept going.
Achieving a time of 2:33:03, we crossed the finish line and I collapsed in a heap, having collected my larger-than-is-probably-necessary Henry VIII themed medal! Duncan was my saviour. He helped me every step of the way and without him I wouldn’t have finished the race.
On 22nd March we added up all the sponsors and we have raised £1,200! This was over double our initial target and we were (and still are) overwhelmed at everybody’s generosity - including many people within the MPC who so kindly sponsored us! This money will be split equally between Macmillan UK and The Royal Marsden, a cancer hospital in Sutton. We ran the race for somebody very close to both Duncan and I, and although we are so proud to say we have done it, never again!
