10k Clapham Common Race for Life

So, this isn't going to be as awe-inspiring as some of the previous marathon posts, but worthy of a post all the same!

The race was fun to be a part of, and had a really great atmosphere; all of the women were in high spirits. A breast cancer sufferer spoke on the stage about her battle, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. So, after a very lews and energetic warm-up (which I declined to take part in as I was on my own and quite embarassed...) we started queuing up walkers/joggers/runners. On Lizzie's and Rachel's advice (thanks girls!) I made sure I was up front because they don't have timing/race chips. We started off and I was in second place, all I could think was 'I hope no one from Clapham Runners sees me, or those competitive jibes are going to stick'! So I watched my pace and throughout the whole run around 10-15 women overtook me.

The course was just two laps of the common, down the Westside, a few up and down laps of the field, left towards the road and up the dirt track, left around the small pond, and then around the pop-up swimming pool, past the bandstand... if that makes sense to anyone! Quite a nice flat route I might try out again sometime.

So, all in all quite uneventful, but it was strange to run on the grass for the first time, and trying to dodge past the walkers on the second lap was a bit of a challenge!

Still, I managed to smash my last 10k personal best of 47.57 and came in at 42.29... I couldn't believe it!!

Sam