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So, Gareth Hopkins can run marathons, but can he run the Cancer Research Race For Life?听Well, no actually, because he is a boy, and this one is for the women.听For this reason, I have decided to take on the challenge and do it for the girls, so to speak.

Reading Gareth鈥檚 diary has made me ever more determined to get fit, and eventually be in the group of people who has run a London marathon, instead of the group of people who keeps saying they will do the London marathon and then never actually does it.听But I think starting by doing a marathon is just a little unrealistic.听As a total beginner, I think attempting even a half marathon over the next 12 months may cause serious injury.听I ran the Comic Relief Mile last year and that was painful enough.听So, having finally signed up, I have decided that a three mile race is a good start.听 Also, it raises money for a good cause, and I feel a tiny bit less stupid asking people to sponsor me for a three mile run than for a one mile (or more notably four laps of a running track).听

The date of the run is 6 June, the location is Warwick Racecourse.听So on top of the fact that this run is three times further than I ran last year (NB. I must add that I did actually run more than a mile in the whole of the last twelve months, at least I think I did, and this mile actually refers to the Comic Relief Mile.听Just wanted to clear that up), I now have to cope with grass and hills rather than nice bouncy running track.

So I have around seven weeks to get to a level of fitness where I can run three miles without wanting to die.听Not an easy challenge.听

I will be posting diaries about twice weekly, letting you know how I鈥檓 doing.听

RUNNING THE RACE

I felt really pumped up and excited about the event, and spent the time from when I got home from work to when I went out to the race dithering around checking, double checking, triple checking, then checking again that I had everything I need. When I was satisfied, I鈥檇 check again. I wasn鈥檛 really nervous, just excited.

I dragged Dave along for moral support (and to carry my rather heavy Donation Station bag!) and we parked at a friend鈥檚 house nearby before walking to the racecourse.

The event was really organised, with people everywhere helping make sure people knew what they were doing.

Hannah before the race

The first thing I did was go to the toilet, and I鈥檓 really glad I did. About ten minutes after I got there the queue was up to about 20 people and it only got longer as it got nearer the start time!

I met up with a couple of friends, Jo and Tracey, and we went off for the warm up.
The warm up was slightly scary. The woman running it was incredibly enthusiastic, far more than I was anyway. It was a bit like having Mr Motivator standing in front of you. After ten minutes of running on the spot and doing strange squats and stretches, it was time to get into position for the start. They separated runners and walkers, letting the runners go first so the walkers didn鈥檛 get trampled on. I said bye to Jo and Tracey as they were starting walking. Jo is seven months pregnant, so how she got round at all is beyond me! (Well done guys!)

Off I went to the runner鈥檚 section. I was reasonably near the front, and before I knew it there was time for just one final cheer before the horn sounded for the start of the two lap race. I got my mp3 going and it was time to go.

It was really hard to get any sort of pace for the first quarter km, as people were jostling around, stopping running, trying to get past each other, it was a bit of a nightmare.听I tried to ignore what was happening as best I could and focus on my own race. I did a pretty good job of it actually, as when it started to thin out a bit I was feeling really good, as if I could keep running for hours.

I maintained a steady pace, letting people pass me and trying not to worry about them beating me! (I have a competitive nature so that was quite hard!) At around the 1km point you come to a hill. It鈥檚 not a particularly gradual one either. It was quite tough the first time round, and I was a little worried about how I would tackle it a second, but I just concentrated on taking it a bit at a time.

The ground was quite rocky and uneven, which was a major challenge and not what I had anticipated. I found it very different from running on tarmac, and I had to really concentrate a lot on my footing. The back straight was nice and comfortable. It followed a nice gentle downward slope, and with the wind behind me I felt unstoppable. Then as I got to the 2km point I started to turn around the corner and back onto myself up the home straight. At this point the wind was smashing me in the face, and I felt like I was running at a wind machine. I really wanted to stop, but forced myself to carry on, remembering the money I was raising and how proud I would be to make it all the way round. What was really nice was as you get to the last 750m there were loads of friends and family of the runners standing there, cheering and clapping everyone on.

That gave me a great lift, and I forced myself through the endless wind tunnel.
As I completed the first lap I was starting to struggle. Running into the wind had been hard and had really taken it out of me. For about two minutes my legs were at war with my brain. My brain was telling me to carry on, my legs were deciding quite the opposite. My brain won the battle, and I gradually got myself back into a manageable pace.

Then the hill came round again. I was struggling, and had slowed my pace down in an effort to conserve some energy. I was concentrating on my footing, when two girls ran past me, one either side, catching me somewhat off-guard as I had been on my own for at least a quarter of a lap. One of them clipped me slightly, and I lost my footing, turning my ankle in a hole.

It really, really hurt. I was now faced with a huge dilemma. Stop, and be really disappointed that I didn鈥檛 complete it, or carry on and potentially hurt my ankle so much that I have to walk, or rather hobble, the last kilometre? I tried to carry on up the hill, but although my brain was saying to carry on, my legs just stopped. That was it, I had failed to run the course. I walked to the top of the hill (around 100m), at which point I decided I was going to run the rest of the course. Probably not the best idea in hindsight, but I was so determined not to let my training go to waste. The next 500m or so was a little uncomfortable, but the race marshals were cheering us all on and I found that although my ankle hurt, I didn鈥檛 seem to care as I was enjoying myself too much. I slowly got back into a manageable rhythm and carried on along the back straight.

The worst thing about the 3.5km point is that you can see the finish, but it鈥檚 so far away! By this point there was nothing that would stop me running back to the finish. As I turned the corner into the home straight, I felt really good. I could see the finish ahead of me, people were clapping and cheering, and I was going to do it.

Then I noticed that it wasn鈥檛 yet the finish, and that you have to go around and come back into it from the other side. I saw the 500m to go sign and kicked, this was it, nearly the end. About 100m later I was ready to stop, I thought about it and realised that 500m was actually one tenth of the course, so wasn鈥檛 really the end! I got to the next corner, and the marshal spurred me on, saying this was the last bend. He lied!

Hannah Barnwell

I turned the corner and there was another one after that, but I worked out that this was definitely the last corner. I was in such agony, my ankle hurt, my feet were starting to ache, I had a stitch, and my whole body wanted to come to a standstill. But this time my brain won out, and I carried on. I came round the last bend and the finish was in sight. There were loads of people clapping and cheering, and suddenly all the pain disappeared. This was the end, I had done it. I produced a sprint finish and crossed the line with a time of just over 40 minutes. I did it! I collected my water, medal and goody bag and soaked up the atmosphere.

I was really disappointed in myself at the end. I had only walked 100m, and I kept saying to myself that I could easily have run that bit as I was fine at the end. That鈥檚 the thing about hindsight though, sometimes it can be a pain. When I stopped it was because I physically couldn鈥檛 carry on at that point. I didn鈥檛 know then how I would feel at the end.

It took a few hours, but eventually what I had achieved began to sink in. I had run all but 100m of a 5km course, which is something I would not have been able to do at all only eight weeks ago. Also, no amount of training could have prepared me for turning my ankle, I could have been running 10 miles a day and a turned ankle still would have stopped me. It was just bad luck.

So there you go, I鈥檝e done the Race For Life. And it was one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life. I never thought I would be so enthusiastic about running, but there鈥檚 something about that atmosphere that is infectious. So I鈥檓 signing up for the Cancer Research 10km at Ragley Hall in September. Dave鈥檚 doing it too, so I鈥檓 going to have someone to train with over the summer. Only worry is, are people going to start getting annoyed having to sponsor me for things?.......

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Hannah is part of 主播大秀 Coventry & Warwickshire's Citizen 1000 project, for more information and to find out how to apply, click on the link below:

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