I signed myself and my friend Emma up for the 5km Limelight Colour Run on this Saturday. It’s gonna be very colourful and for a very good cause too, in aid of Cancer Research UK.
Only thing is… I didn’t really think it through. I’m not sure I can still run 5km!! Why am I so flippin’ impulsive! I am going on the premise that I used to do athletics and run in long distance and cross country races for my county. Impressive you may be thinking, yes, maybe… but I was also 16 years old!!
I walk everywhere, including up some pretty decent mountains. I also love going out on my bike exploring. I do my best to go to the gym and go swimming but being outdoors really is much more my bag! Today I agreed to meet aforementioned friend and her daughter at the gym to go swimming, whilst Emma went for a run. I got there early and decided to see if this 5km thing was a goer… turns out I may just be able to do it. I managed 3km on the running machine, without stopping and without passing out, before they arrived! So feeling pretty pleased with myself, it has to be said!
Anyway… the real reason I am writing this post is not about my exercising habits or fitness levels (or lack of). The real reason that I am writing about this is that Saturday’s run will be Emma’s warm up run for a half marathon she will be taking part in, in just 17 days time now.
This half marathon is called the The KR Steel Half Marathon. “It is a challenging, off road, hilly 13.1 miles starting and finishing in the beautiful grounds of the Raemoir House Hotel. The opening 3 miles will test your strength with a quick ascent to the highest point of the route, but the reward is in the views, and the long descent back to the finish line. You will also enjoy incredible views of a hidden valley, not visible from any of the roads surrounding the Hill of Fare. Mile 9 is particularly fun where the terrain is extremely challenging.” Check out The Fare Challenge for more info.
Sounded a bit gnarly to me when she was describing it to me over a cheeky little bottle of wine. I said things like ‘wow, are you sure, that’s a long way’ and ‘well ok then, if you think you can’ and we continued to chat about it. Then Emma showed me the course online. I nearly spat out my wine! I have the tendancy to have a bit of a potty mouth on me once the wine has been cracked (shocking I know 😉 ) and I shall spare you my exact words… but they did go along the lines of ‘holy **** are you mental! That would be a ***** to even walk! You are aff your heid!, etc etc!”
You see most marathons are held for folks to skip themselves around a wee city or two, usually on fairly flat, easy terrain, sometimes chucking a a little hill or so, but not a big flippin’ off road, gnarly mountain! AND Emma, well she likes to have a run every now and then when the notion takes her, but she’s not a fitness fiend in any way. She can sometimes be persuaded to come for a hill walk with me but is not usually the one to be suggesting it. So this announcement took me somewhat by surprise it did!
I should, however point out that Emma is also THE most determined person I know. Once she puts her mind to something there is very little that will sway her, trust me, I’ve known her a very long time…. it’s true! So she has been in training for this madness for several months now, often to be seen running along Riverside, often along to Broughty Ferry and even has been spotted photo bombing people’s wedding photographs!
Proud doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel about my friend and I just know that she is going to nail this… sail through!
Emma is doing all this as both a personal challenge and also to raise money for The Archie Foundation and I shall let her tell you why:
“I have been attending the Aberdeen Children’s hospital for the past 8 years with my son. While we were last in Aberdeen for an appointment (last week) we were chatting about how great The Archie Foundation has been. They have made very difficult experiences less frightening and daunting. They provide an amazing support to children and families in the north of Scotland. We live in Dundee, however my son’s specialist is in Aberdeen so we have been up there quite a lot over the years. My son will eventually move onto adult services so it feels like a good time to do more than one off donations and do some fundraising/awareness raising.”
“I haven’t run very far before and my son tried not to laugh when I suggested I do a run, but it seems like a good idea anyway. I am starting to push my fundraising page now partly as a motivation to get past the boredom I feel when I start running. Waiting around in hospital for tests or procedures is boring and scary. It feels like time stands still and there are only so many times you can make ‘eye spy’ fun. The Archie Foundation adds fun and a lot of caring. “
Plums Are Also Round 