Wycombe 10k – 12th July 2016

by April Meadows

 

My goal and admittedly slightly dreaded event since I began running in March was 10km,so when the unexpected opportunity arose to join Kate in the Wycombe 10km it was with trepidation that I agreed!

I had never reached the 10km mark previously, 8.5km at best with the Tuesday beginners group but with support from Kate I decided to challenge myself and see what I was capable of.

Sunday morning we set off and arrived at the new route for the race which would see those competing get a hero’s welcome when finishing inside the Wycombe Wanderers stadium.

At 9:30am in the rain I nervously set off with Kate and my thoughts settled on pacing myself, my target of finishing and running as much of the route as possible clear in my mind. Kate got off to a great start, working her way through the large crowd at a very speedy pace. The start of the race was undertaken on a flat terrain with us running past well-wishers who had come out to shout support to those coming past making their way into the countryside and the hills at the 3km mark.

Beautiful views distracted me and my fellow runners as at last the rain stopped and with a water point in sight at the half way sector morale was high. Pushing onwards and having made sure to thank the plentiful supply of marshals on route I began to near 9km,the end was close and it dawned of me I would finish. It was at this point however I landed awkwardly on my right ankle due to the wet grass which caused some discomfort but any thoughts of giving up were pushed firmly to the side. I had learnt a lot from my beginners group building up my distance covered week by week and I was not going to give up, my sessions with the group had taught me to be more resilient and believe in myself more. I was going to finish and that was that.

With 200 metres to go I ran into Kate and she coached me back towards the finish, where we were greeted with many smiling faces and congratulations. Kate finished with a fantastic time of 1:05:05,I was behind with 1:14:05 which I am very proud of. It sank in that I had completed the very goal I had been dreading with months to spare and that feeling drowned everything else out.

While 10km is not the furthest distance available to a runner, to me it was the distance I finally could proclaim myself a ‘proper’ runner. Looking at my medal at that moment it genuinely made all the blisters and aches from my 18 week initiation all worth it.

So onto the next one…!