Alison Angier Diary

Wow I just couldn’t believe it when I found out!!

Yes today was The Race for Life in Castle Park. The weather was reasonable even though it was wet. Not too much rain was falling. The atmosphere was amazing as always and everyone was so hyped up. The local radio station was there playing music and supporting everyone taking part. It is such a fantastic event to take part in and it is an amazing feeling.

I managed to get in the front line this time and it was thrilling to see all the people lined up alongside the fences clapping and cheering. The count down was intense and everyone was fidgeting. When the horn blew I just went for it as fast as I could as I didn’t want to get caught up in the throng as we approached the gates. It was weird not seeing loads in front of me on the first lap. I had my ipod on but was not really paying attention to the music. I just wanted to set my breathing right with my pace. I only actually had one ear piece in so I was aware of what was going on around me.

When I got through the gates by the bridge to go towards the pond, there was hundreds of people lining the path. I was so happy to see my friend and work colleague Jacqui there waving at me and spurring me on. I was so pleased to see David and the kids calling me and spurring me on with praise. It gave me a real boost.

Running up past the Roman wall was very hard as I had gone quite fast on the first lap and did the first mile in only 8 minutes and 20 seconds. The second mile was slightly slower but not by much. I started catching up with the walkers when I was half way round on my second lap. I only could say excuse me as I didn’t have enough breath to say thank you. They did move out of the way but it was very difficult to get round some of them.

I was determined to find a sprint finish so tried to speed up once I was on the path round by the pond. I really went for it when I got clear of walkers and made a sprint for the finish line. I could hear Tiff and James shouting to me and I could hear the cheers from the crowd. I looked at the clock as I crossed the finish line and stopped my ipod too.

My time was 26 minutes and 22 seconds. I was so pleased and when David told me he counted as people crossed the line and I was 18th I was stunned! The distance was 3.15 miles so just over 5k. I picked up my medal and bottle of water and waited for David and the kids to come over. I waited for some of my friends from the running club to finish so that I could congratulate them. They all did really well and I was so pleased for them all.

When we got home, I updated my ipod to my computer where I track my runs and times. I was so amazed as I actually completed the 5k in 25 minutes and 57 seconds. I set a new personal best for myself so I am so thrilled with that.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me in my training and those who have sponsored me for such a worthy cause. so Thank you so much!. I will post the amount I have raised this year when I have a final total.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 13th, 2007 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.