POST RACE SUMMARY

Hi everyone,

Firstly, we would like to thank you for your generous donations. We've raised about £3,300  (before gift aid or bp matching) for the Anthony Nolan Trust, which was a lot more than what we thought we could muster! Thank you so much.

We all managed to complete the race, eventually, and our times were:

Kate: 2:56:00 , Dawn 2:55:25, Charles 1:55:27 (yes, Charles was the winner!  But we all achieved Personal Best times!)

Quick race summary: 

Kate and Dawn ran the race together, as we're such great team players and 'teamwork' is obviously our middle names. haha. Dawn was out of action for 2.5 weeks before the race due to a pulled ligament on her left ankle and was pretty sure that she would be walking the race. Kate had pulled her archilles in July and had just started running again 2 weeks before the race. However, with some mutual encouragement and back slapping Dawn managed to run most of the race with the left ankle giving her minimal trouble, only picking up a *new and improved* injury on her right ankle in the 10th mile, and Kate managed to run her race at a reasonable pace with  minimal achilles trouble and no new injuries. There was some walking and running going on between the 10th - 11.5th mile, but both Kate and Dawn managed a sprint finish for the last mile, which was grand.

Here is the detailed race rundown, as written by  Kate (Dawn and Charles will be adding in snide comments in brackets). Enjoy!

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The race started with high-fiving the legendary Bobby Robson as Dawn and I went past the start line. We had chosen the left hand carriageway, which turned out to be a good choice that day because the first mile or so was mostly run in the shade of the underpass, as opposed to sticking it out in the heat on the overpass.

Then it was the Tyne Bridge... how can you not love running across the Tyne Bridge?! And then as we passed Gateshead stadium... I hit a bit of a low. That 2 mile stretch of uphill... it just seems like a long way to go when you're at the bottom and know you still have another 10 miles to run, the next 2 of which are uphill! (D: it did not help that there were about 20 people peeing on the sides of the road, and you could see little rivers of pee heading your way) I slowed my pace a little, and with Dawn's encouragement we made it up to the top of the hill to the highest point on the course and I was feeling good. I was a little bit disappointed to have not seen Will and Tom on the way (our supporters!) as I had asked Will to be somewhere on that hill as I knew I'd appreciate the encouragement.  (They were looking out for us at the 4.5 mile point, but realised they must have missed us when after 10 minutes of waiting they saw an elderly man shuffling along the course with a walking stick! Charming!) 

Miles 6-9 were a total blur... the 10k mark (about 1hr 20) and the halfway mark were morale boosters (well they were for me... I think Dawn was a little disappointed at the times, whereas I was amazed that I'd run so far and was feeling good!). Counting the "miles to go" from that point made it all seem much more achievable, but it had the opposite affect on Dawn (D: I am a negative, cynical person, and after putting in all that effort for 10 k, i couldn't imagine running another one!). I have no idea where it was, but the Nike power play section with the speakers all the way down the road was great!

Other "best bits" along this section were

1) the guy with the garden hosepipe stood on top of the bus stop spraying all those that wanted to be cooled down,

2) the kids squirting you with recycled water bottles,

3) squirting them back,

4) having your name shouted out with words of encouragement,

5) All the bands (except the one that was packing up when we ran past!),

6)everyone that gave out oranges, ice pops, sweeties, juice, etc by the side of the road,

7) the guy running in the Borat thong!

Dawn says: [8) giving high fives to any tom dick or harry who stretched their hands out ,

9) Wanting to give a high five to the ambulance people who were stretching our their hands, but stopping because they were actually offering vaseline.

10)running back 5 meters and shouting 'ICE LOLLY!' so as to get ice lollies from the spectators.. SUCKERS!

11) eating everything i could get my hands on, including energy gels! I think I was the only one who put on weight from running the GNR. ]

But...

From 9.5 miles to 11.5 miles was an absolute killer mentally and physically! Dawn was in a lot of pain, and I started feeling sick (too much lucozade) and just plain tired above anything else (not sleeping the night before didn't help there!). I think we probably walked about a mile of that section, plus Dawn had to go for an "alfresco" loo stop behind an opportune bush! (D: NOBODY SAW ME, I SWEAR! There was a brick wall as well!)

Dawn and I had managed to stick together from the beginning to about mile 11.5, keeping each other going. However at this point, Dawn let out a bit of a "yelp" of pain! I thought the worst at first and was thinking about getting her attended to by the St Johns ambulance guys (not the ones with the vaseline!), but she carried on running with a grimace on her face... she seemed to be in so much pain and wanted to walk a bit more, just when I was starting to feel loads better (still tired but not sick!) so she told me to leave her for the millionth time! (D: 'Save yourself!') She'd said this every time we'd stopped to walk for a bit, but I ignored her up until then. I decided to run ahead and crossed my fingers that Dawn was ok.

I really loved the steep downhill section towards the seafront! And then into mile 12 along the leas by the beach at South Shields. I ran until I saw the 800 m to go sign... It put me right off - 800m is still half a mile and I was shatttered! And I was now on my own. Or as much "on your own" as you can be in a race with 50,000+ others! I started walking. Then Dawn comes speeding past me, screaming "come on Kate, only 800m to go!".... she recovered well from the pain eh! She later told me that she tried running faster and the pain subsided! Weird! So, surprised and spurred on by Dawn's efforts, I start running again for what felt like the longest half mile in the world! I started speeding up the pace from about the 400m to go mark and was so chuffed when I saw the official race clock and realised I was definitely under the 3hr mark! Woohoo!

I had a few tearful moments at the finish, when I met up with Dawn (who finished 35 seconds ahead of me... nice one!), and when I hugged Will. I never thought I'd be able to run a half marathon, but I just did! The thought was overwhelming.

I must say... my first thought was not "when can I do that again!"... it was something more like "thank god that's over!". But as hindsight swiftly brings on the rose-tinted glasses... you never know! Maybe I will give it another go next year!

In the meantime - ooh my ankles / knees / hips are sore!

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Hi Everyone,

It's time to get in on the 'I'm nearly thirty so i'd better run a half marathon to prove that I've done something good with my life'  act and there's no better time than now to run 13 miles (21km) for the Great North Run this September 30th, 2007.

We have charity places for the Great North Run and thus it is compulsory for us to raise cash to run. So please dig deep and help us out! We don't want to be hundreds of pounds in debt as well as injured, hobbling and miserable during the 13 mile race.

But on a serious note, we have chosen the Anthony Nolan trust as helps people with Leukemia and all of us have been personally affected by this disease. Dawn's close family member tragically passed away because it took too long to get a  suitable match of bone marrow. Similarly, Kate and Charles' families and friends have been impacted by cancer.  

So thank you for visiting this page and please help us raise some funds for a good cause! 

Lighting the way,

Dawn, Kate & Charles.

Note on how to double your Donation with no catch:

We all work for the Southern Hub in BP Northsea, and all donations from employees will be matched by BP.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Anthony Nolan Trust will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.