The Race for Life, 2022

Last July, I achieved one of the main goals I'd set my sights on for the year: taking part in the Race For Life 5K run, and running the full route. These days, that length of run sounds pretty routine, but less than a year ago, I'd run a 5K only once in my life, on a treadmill, about 15 years ago.

When the day came, I'd already completed Couch to 5K a good six weeks previously and had been keeping up to the regular running, even if not always 3 times a week. The main thing that was going to give me grief was the fact that it was July, the run started at about 11am and it was a hot day. With the event being held on the Town Moor in Newcastle too, there'd be precious little shade.

That said, right now, I'd happily take the heat. Would make a nice change from running in bitterly cold winds! 😂

Once the race began, it was pretty seriously congested, as you'd expect. Heading out of Exhibition Park and onto the verge of the Great North Road, we even had to walk through one pinch point. From there, we headed up to and through the Forsyth Road entrance to the town moor, IIRC. I was expecting the shade from the trees to manage my temperature at this point, but in reality the hedge just collected all of the hot air that was wafting across the moor, creating some kind of sauna there; it was probably the hottest part of the course overall.

I don't really remember all of the twists on this part of the route, but I do remember one of the corners on the moor not being marshalled very well at all, meaning most people were cutting it big-time. I did my best to ignore them, but have to confess that I suspect I too chopped off a little bit of distance here. Heading off the moor and up Grandstand Road towards the turning point at the Kenton Road junction, we were back in the trees, but I honestly don't recall it as respite. I suspect I was just knackered from the heat at this point.

From there, we retraced our route to the moor entrance near the Blue House Roundabout and set off back across the open moor to the start/finish area. Looking back, I find it amazing my feet didn't give me much grief here, as the stones on the track are pretty big and make for a horribly uneven and triggering surface. Even though this was the time of year when I had the least bother with my feet, I bet I still ran on the grass to one side or something.

A few more minutes of sweating and panting later and I rounded the final corner to see the finish line and my family cheering me on. 😁 Whipping out the phone, I stopped the clock at 27 minutes and 23 seconds (I think) and even Google Fit told me I'd done less than 5km. (The cut corner would've saved me only about 5m, so it wasn't down to that.) To be fair, the precise distance at an event like this is a lot less important than the fundraising.

And speaking of the fundraising, I ended up raising waaay more than I expected, so thank you again to everyone who sponsored me. If you want to sponsor me again, I'll be doing it this year with my elder daughter, albeit only on the 3K course. In fact, no — sponsor my daughter! She used to do the odd junior parkrun, clocking up about 9 events before calling it a day through boredom. 😂 And while she never completed an event running the full 2K, I have no doubt that she'll be a star on this 3K. I look forward to doing the write-up for that one! 😊