We had been doing some training on the run up to the event but were not as prepared as we had hoped to have been, but that said, we were going for it. We were going to attempt to run as much of the course as we could. I kept telling myself that what we were putting ourselves through was absolutely nothing in comparison to the suffering that cancer patients experience. We knew you can walk these courses but we've done that before and with all of us being pretty un-fit and not at all sporty or energetic when it comes to sports, we wanted a challenge.
Race night came around, I was feeling nervous but really excited, I just wanted to get started. There I was with my poster attached to my back and I was ready to kick cancer right in the butt and show it what I really thought. It took my Grandad from me and that is one thing I can never forgive. It has affected pretty much every individual in some way or another, it was pay back time.
The atmosphere on the night was amazing, so much better than any day time event I have been too. parts of the course were lit by fairly lights twisted round bridges or tree's lit up by coloured spot lights and the rest of the course was lit up by us. Everyone made an effort, even some of the spectators. People were adorned with fairy light (battery operated of course) glow sticks, glittery wigs, face paints, luminous coloured tutu's and leg warmers it really was fantastic.
Running round the course the stewards were all waving glow sticks and giving words of encouragement. there was a children's choir singing and giving people that push that they needed. At another point there was a local dance group of disabled teenagers waving pom-poms and shouting words of encouragement. The local radio station dropped by too with a car pumping out tunes. And do you know what it all helped. it all made a difference to the night and it kept pushing us to run.
OK, so we didn't run the whole entire 5k but we ran the majority of it, occasionally stopping to catch our breath and muster up some more energy to go again.
I'm so pleased with how we did, we managed to finish in just over 40 minutes. I had hoped to do it quicker but we finished, that is the main thing and do you know what is even better. we set ourselves a target of £350 to raise and how much have we raised so far?...........................................................
(fortunately we didn't need the ambulance in the background there!)
£537.00. that is 153% of our target, and donations are still coming in. We are blown away by this amount, I never imagined we would raise as much as this and want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported us and donated to this worthwhile cause. I know my Grandad would have been proud and that means the world to me.
It's not too late to sponsor us, even if you can only spare a pound, it all adds up and makes a difference to the research that can be done to find treatments and cures to this awful disease. You can find us on Just Giving here. Thank you.
Love Gem x x x x
