Those of you with a current or recently expired registration number at the University of Bath will have had your Facebook news feeds filling up today with last minute calls for donations as we prepare for tomorrow's half marathon. Here's mine:
I'm running stupidly far tomorrow and I don't like running.
Why do it then? Simple. This is the 1st of 10 challenges, remember? It's not supposed to be easy, its supposed to be bloody hard work. My amazing nephew, Theo, faces challenges everyday that you and I take for granted. It's time for me to leave my comfort zone and prove I can do something challenging too; fundraising along the way to help make those challenges Theo faces just a little bit easier for him. Please help where you can.
I won't be running alone tomorrow. The list of friends running, both for Theo and for charities close to their own hearts, is long, varied and most importantly, inspiring! I am going to need all the motivation I can get tomorrow - this is my first ever running event - and I can't think of anything more powerful than seeing groups of glistening, familiar faces. Good luck to all of you.
To all those speedy, sub 90 minute runners, I salute you; well, at least that is what my out-stretched hand will look like as you gazelle past me. You'll miss my pleas for help as you bop along to your perfectly ordered playlist on your fully charged wireless headphones. Your porridge filled and well trained legs will shake with joy as you pass me for the second loop round Queens Square, a mere few railings along from where you had last seen me dragging myself along. Most of you will have had the sense to have prepared correctly: regular training, controlled diet, good sleeping pattern. As I reminisced back to my last run (over a week ago) whilst tucking into a particularly delicious bag of jelly snakes in the late hours of yesterday evening, I came to the following conclusion; maybe I was preparing to spectate.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not waving the white flag (yet!). This course must be conquered. However, I am embracing the fact that I'm going to be a fair few furlongs behind the leaders and I will enjoy watching them run past with ease; much like the majority of the crowd. Like a proud mother, waving frantically as her son, red faced with exhaustion and now embarrassment, passes by, I too will be merrily cheering on those who overtake me. I hope you can pat me on the back on your way. I'll need that extra boost!
See you all at the start line and, hopefully less than 2 hours later, at the finish line.
