2013 Challenge Series: Winslow 10k

Becky, me, Ruth before the start

Sunday was the first race in my 2013 Challenge Series: The Winslow 10k! This was a rural run on roads around the outskirts of Winslow in Buckinghamshire, and I was joined in the race by Ruth and Becky, who work and volunteer for NYAS and who were also raising money for the charity (and doing a much better job than me!): neither of them are regular runners, but both did brilliantly well. We also had the support of a couple of colleagues and their families, who braved the weather, which was above and beyond the call of duty! I think they ended up colder than we did, as they had to stand around waiting for us to finish. The event itself was really well organised and friendly, with about 290 runners, so there was room for more! The course was "undulating"..... Well I've often wandered what this means; it seems to mean a flat course with a couple of (not steep) hills in it.... totaling about 230ft climb. We were warned about the slope at the end, but apart from the fact that it was in the last km, it wasn't too bad. 

Warming up at the end!

However, the real killer was the weather: it was freezing! It was very cold and a little windy, with a little fall of snow... so I was well togged up.... I don't think I'll ever reach the stage where I wear just shorts and t-shirt like some at the race, although I did warm up a little once under way! The race itself was great: a few people to cheer us round the course and a good competitive run. I was trying to push it, as I wanted to see how fast I could do 10k in: I'd set myself  target of 55 minutes which was about 10 minutes quicker than my only other 10k run last year. In this I was helped by a woman runner over the latter stages of the course, as we kept on overtaking each other. It really spurred me on to run quicker I'm sure, and I was pleased to hear that it had helped her get up the final slope at the end! I ended with a time of 51m 26s: I was pleasantly surprised with this, as it was a whole lot quicker than I thought I'd do, and I think a testament to the running I've been doing with people from my running club, who have pushed me in training over the past few weeks. Becky and Ruth also had great runs, and it was really good to see them finish in decent times as well!

One of the fantastic things about this "Challenge Series" is that as I travel round, I'll meet some of the amazing people who volunteer and work for NYAS day in and day out. It was good to meet Becky, one of these volunteers, and to find out a little about what she does as a NYAS Independent Visitor (a volunteer who befriends a young person who is "in Care", over a number of years). Her particular young person was having a difficult time due to a court case involving her step-father, but Becky had recently taken her to see a play (something she thought she would hate) and she had enjoyed it so much that she had asked to join a local youth theatre. Sometimes that is what IVs do, bring a little bit of inspiration and normality into the lives of children in Care, when they are surrounded by so much rubbish. It makes me feel proud to work for NYAS: it's why I'm doing this Challenge Series, to raise money to support the great work it does!

So the next stop is Cambridge and the Boundary Run next week......... a different challenge and a half marathon! Just hope it warms up over the next few days!