Running for Harry.....

I'm no runner....in fact until yesterday I'd have said I hate running... but yesterday I completed my first half marathon and can honestly say I loved every minute!!

So, what makes a non-runner sign up to a half marathon?

In October last year, I attended the funeral of someone I'd never even met...some may think that strange, but he was someone who had captured my heart via twitter, Harry Moseley was one special boy.  To see the numbers of people who came to pay their respects to Harry, showed me just how many lives he had touched, and I felt then that what he had started would continue for a long time to come.

When I discovered @runningforHarry on twitter I was only too keen to help spread the word about the event - but firmly sitting on my hands for some time, as I'm usually very eager to put my hand up for anything for charity!!  I hated running, I did not want to run a half marathon - but then I thought that lots of people do things they don't want to do every day, including carrying on with life without their loved ones, like Harry's family.

And so, here I am the day after the event with very mixed emotions - I won't bore you with a mile-by-mile account, but here are my highs and lows of the day.....

Highs
Spotting team mate @nataliepeperell at the 3 mile relay point :-)
Running past a school band playing 'We are the champions' half way up a hill :-)
The fabulous Reading community cheering all the way along the route :-)
Kids giving high-fives and jelly babies :-)
Seeing Harry's mum and sister at the 9 mile relay point, and being spurred on remembering why I was there!
Running into the Madejski Stadium and feeling very very pleased with myself :-)
Meeting up with team Running for Harry in the bar :D

Lows
Getting to the top of a hill just past 7 miles and feeling like I had nothing left - stopped to walk and felt like my legs were going to collapse underneath me!
Getting to the 11 mile marker and being gutted I had a whole 2 miles left....
A phone call from my son saying they couldn't find parking, and realising my family wouldn't be there to see me at the finish :-(

Overall, it was a fantastic experience, I was very proud to be a part of Running for Harry - thanks to my lovely friend Claire for our training sessions and for letting me gently persuade her into taking part ;-)

Sadly, after all the elation of the day and much happy tweeting in the early evening, the day ended on a massive low point.  I read a tweet that someone had died after collapsing at the finish line, and later found out that it was @12pmclub who I had met just a few weeks before.  Absolutely tragic, and my heart goes out to his family and our good friend @theramblingduck - RIP @12pmclub xxx

thanks for reading... if you would like to support team Running for Harry by making a donation, you can do so here: http://www.justgiving.com/runningforharrymoseley

Nx