The Robin Hood Half Marathon

Back in June I decided to do the Robin Hood Half Marathon. I had four months to train.

Good intentions of a regular training program soon went out of the window and as the date of the marathon loomed I was squeezing in occasional runs and wondering if I would actually be ready for it.

Two weeks ago having not done any long runs I did a 10mile run and felt ok. I was doing 10minute miles which meant I could do the half in 2hrs 10min (ish). But just a week ago I was getting a cold, hadn’t ran since the 10mile run I did the week before and was feeling like I didn’t want to do it.

How easy it would have been to not do it. You see I also, at this point, hadn’t done any fund raising for the event, which of course was the main reason for doing it. So I found my mind coming up with lots of perfect excuses not to do it.

Then I had a word with myself. Ok I hadn’t trained as much as I’d wanted to (but I’d done some), I have a general fitness from the other sports I do that would certainly help me through and even if I only raised a small amount for charity it was still better than nothing. And of course there is this…

Last Wednesday (four days before the event) I put up a just giving page with a target of £143.00. By the end of the day I had reached my target. It was the best thing that could have happened. Now I had to do the race because people were supporting me and all of a sudden I had a responsibility and commitment to do it.

I did a gentle 40min run on Friday evening, tapered on Saturday, read this on Facebook that evening….

OUT TOMORROW – Marathon Training by Nikalas Cook To quote “If you can run 10 yards, you can run a marathon”

….and went to sleep happy in the knowledge that I could most definitely run 10 yards so tomorrows half marathon was in the bag!

It was my first large running event and I was overwhelmed by the number of people and the general buzz about the place. It’s quite incredible.

As the race got underway, feeling so inspired and encouraged by the other runners and the crowds of people cheering us on, I was going for it and going at a pace I’ve never run at! I did my third mile in 7minutes which although good was a ridiculous pace to sustain if I wanted to finish. By mile 6 I had found my rhythm and calculated that at this pace I could come in with a sub 2hr finishing time, I just had to keep going.

I was getting tired. I knew I was slowing down, my energy levels were low and I wondered if I’d over cooked it far too early on. Mentally I was doing that thing I do on mountains, I was searching in my head for the next step… I was battling to keep going. Then two amazing things happened.

As I came round a corner at mile 9 or thereabouts a lady was standing on the pavement with a bag of jelly babies and she held one out to me, gesturing for me to take it. It was a green one, not normally the colour I’d go for, but I reached out and took the green jelly baby, shouted thank you and as the small sweet melted in my mouth I can honestly say it was probably the best jelly baby I’ve ever had in my life! The energy from the jelly belly and the kindness that a complete stranger had shown me really helped. With a coupe of miles left I was flagging again. A man was standing holding a sign up that said,

“I don’t know you, but I’m proud of you”

… And that was it for me. Fuelled by one green jelly baby and a huge mental push I put my foot down and came in at 1hr54mins and 34secs.

Isn’t it funny how the smallest things, but at the right time, can make all the difference?

Thank you so much to the green jelly baby lady and the man who was holding the sign up and thank you to everyone who sponsored me – you made me make myself do the half marathon and together we have now raised over £200 for Treetops hospice.

Very happy Squash!