2013 Challenge: The Ronnie Bowker 10k

Cannon Hill Park

At last, as part of my 2013 Challenge Series I had a race in my home town Brum, with the Ronnie Bowker 10k. This was a 2 lap race around Cannon Hill Park, one of the nicest parks in Brum and familiar territory, as I regularly go through the park on training runs, and it's also the home of my local Park Run! So I was really looking forward to the race, particularly as it was a nice day with decent weather!

I had high hopes for the race: I had beaten my PB for a Park Run 5k the previous day (23:39) with help from some fantastic pacing from a great guy from my running club, and as the course was flat, I was aiming to go under 50 minutes for the first time, something which a few months ago I would have thought was way beyond me (and it probably still is!!). I started off slower than I had hoped, with the crowded start line proving a problem, but then settled into a nice pace, which I kept going for most of the race. In fact I kept it fairly steady until about three quarters of the way through when I seemed to slow, but was able to speed up at the end, with the help of a little "dual" with another runner; a really good way to finish the race, but ending with a time of 50:58, a PB for this distance, but quite a bit outside the time I was hoping for!

Smera

It was also a great encouragement to be joined by a colleague from our Birmingham Office, Smera, who was also running to raise money for NYAS. She's the Senior Advocate for one of our services in Solihull, supporting children and young people who are in Care. Not being a regular runner, this was Smera's first race, and she did brilliantly to finish the course, putting in a very gutsy run! I'm trying to persuade her to do the Birmingham Half Marathon next.......

As I've been joined by volunteers and staff from NYAS in this series of races, I've been really impressed by their commitment to NYAS and to the young people they work with, and Smera is no exception. She runs a great service in Solihull, helping young people when they have problems with their care from the local authority, ensuring their views are heard and negotiating on their behalf to have their issues resolved. These can involve, for example, problems with schools, homelessness, sudden move of home, contact with their family, or difficulties around access to services when children move into adulthood. All or any of these issues can really impact on the lives of the most vulnerable children in our society and Smera and the hundreds of advocates within NYAS do a fantastic job in supporting them, as these quotes from young people show:

"NYAS has helped me a lot and they have got me through situations that I couldn't deal with by myself"

"Thanks for your help, you helped me to get heard otherwise people don’t listen"

"Thank you for your help, it really did make a difference."

This is why Smera and I have been training and running: to raise money for the work of NYAS and the work we do supporting vulnerable children and adults. If you can, please do visit our BT Donate page, and give generously! Thank you!