I have totally stolen this idea from The Runner Beans, but love it. I have so many favourite moments linked to running, but here are my top 5.
1. Completing the London Marathon in 2014. It was my first ever marathon, so I wasn’t sure I was even going to be able to complete it. I really wanted to go sub 5 hours, but was also well aware that I had never completed anything over 18 miles, so my ‘silver target’ was to just finish it, and ‘gold’ to get a sub 5. It was a good 20 minutes after I finished when my sister told me I had finished in 4:57:06. You can read more about it here.
2. Running my first event with my daughter. She has been one of my biggest supporters, seeing her a mile 17 of the 2014 London Marathon gave me the biggest boost possible.
When I have come home from runs, she has been waiting, ready to join me around the block. As soon as she turned 4, I had planned to take her to Junior Parkrun, but the weather looked awful on the day, and I didn’t want to put her off. So, a day later than planned, we entered the MK super hero run. She had received an Elsa dress for her birthday, and there was no way I was getting that off her, so Elsa was her super hero!
3. My first 5K with my sister. I was not living close to my sister at the time, but I persuaded her to start training for a Race for Life in London. She was up for it and trained really hard on her own. Getting the train up to London, knowing that I was going to meet my sister and run an event together made it all the more exciting.
4. Running Brighton half marathon with my cousin Katie and friend Kate. It was the second year that I had run this race. Last year I had got so carried away, I went through the first mile in 8:xx , and then wanted to give up at mile 3!! This year, we all paced it sensibly, ran together, got each other through the bad patches and I just love running by the sea. It wasn’t super fast, but it was just a great race.
5. I’ll never forget my first half marathon. I ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon and loved it (I REALLY want to do this again!). It was one of my first experiences of running past the huge landmarks in London and on closed roads! I had a few friends that I knew were also running and I managed to see some of them on the course. I think it was one of the first times I really saw the running community, and how everyone was supportive of each other. I wanted a sub 2 hour time, but missed it by 28 seconds! Still to this day that stands as my PB, but I am determined to go sub 2 soon!
So there you have it! I’ve noticed a bit of a theme going through my best bits! I love running with people! So, I’m off to book some more races with friends!
What are your top memories? Do you like running with people?
RulaRuns 