Laura's Race Report

Hello all. Thanks for coming out to support us today. It was fantastic seeing you all -- twice!
I suppose I stuck to my race plan in that I tried to run with the 9 minute mile pacer for at least the first half and then see how it was going. This proved difficult as it was very crowded and I don't think she actually hit the spilts for that pace until about mile 18. Struggled to dart in and out of people to keep her in sight more well. Having said that the pace felt faster than I expected -- which was probably a combination of the heat and my not being that fit, having done my training runs very slowly.

Anyway, I made a gallant effort up to about mile 18 but my legs were starting to seize and feel quite crampy so I decided to save my skin and adopt a jog-walk plan from there on out. At one point I stoppped for a massage by what I thought were people from St. John's Ambulance but turned out to be Scientologists! I ran away when I realized that, having wasted a precious few minutes there!

Walking wasn't much more comfortable than running, really, but there seemed to be a few heat casualties so it may have saved me an injury or getting quite ill.

So I managed 4:23 and am pleased. A year ago I couldn't plod 2 slow miles without stopping to walk, having just had my baby. (Also not bad considering it was quite warm, I only trained for 12 weeks, mostly with a jogging buggy, and my "long" runs were one 10 mile, two 12's and a 14.5) And best of all, it's 3 minutes quicker than my first London effort when I was 5 years younger and had trained more.

As always, the crowd support was nothing short of phenomenal. Thanks so much Clapham Runners! Wonderful support. And a BIG well done to my fellow club members. Hope you're all feeling good. xxx