Elland Round Table, Run for it 5km run

The 5km charity run for Kirkwood Hospice was brilliant, it was organised by Elland round table very well and the weather held off too.

As we arrived we could hear the music playing but could see it until we rounded the corner and saw the marquees and tents and the big Start/Finish line. We arrived a little late but in time for the warm up, the closer it got to the start the more the atmosphere grew. During the warm up u looked around and could even see the park officials joining in. My little boy Dexter even joined in the warm up even thou he wasn't running.

We lined up at the start and were given a 5 second countdown, off we went and I immediately realised I hadn't set my Endomondo app going so quick ly turned it on. But a couple of minutes later I realised that the GPS wasn't track me right as I did the first Km in 2.33, I thought that's Mo Farrah pace not fun run pace. It wasn't until the 4th km that the GPS started working properly, but I kept it going just for the time on it. As we reached halfway it was at that point I started to struggle as I think I went off to quick. At the start I had a bit of a lead on Rob but by halfway he was back up with me and even slowed to stay with me which was nice of him. We were still happy with our pace and the constant encouragement from the race marshals and the spectators was a boost too. At 3.5km we were passed by a 10/11 year old boy who seemed to have endless energy, but you do at that age (cut away to daydreaming about your youth). We kept going thou and were soon at the top of the last little climb. This seemed to inject a bit of pace and the sound of the announcer calling the times out as they crossed the line was encouraging. We knew there wasn't far to go, and at this point there was about 4 of us in a little group. This group was cut in half at the last corner as the other 2 sensed the finish and pushed hard. I could tell Rob wanted to go too but he stayed with me till we crossed the line together in a time of 26.04 minutes. We were greeted by our families at the finish line which was great but I was so tired I couldn't thank them. We received a bottle of ice valley water at the end which is funny cos its produced at the factory next door to us in Shepley. There was a medal and a certificate for each runner too and there was also an Olympic torch with its bearer at the finish to have photos with, which Dexter and I did. Unfortunately for Clark there was a mascot called Kirk Wood there too which Clark was terrified of poor boy.

We all had a fantastic morning and will definitely do it again next year, bigger and better as well. Hopefully I will be able to go quicker too as I've only been running 3 months so far. I hope a year of running will mean I get a better time for the next 1. Congrats to all who took part and a special congrats to my friend Joys dad aged 79 who completed it in 1hr20....

Next for me and Rob is a 10km Run from Shepley to Cannon hall farm and museum at Cawthorne park. I think this will be on November the 4th so we better get training soon, bit of rest after today then back on it.

I apologise for the mixed up photos the Blogger App doesn't cope well when you add photos.