Red Cross Blogs

Surviving the Great North Run

By Heron Holloway
September 27, 2010 at 10:30 am

The knees have stopped creaking and I’m able to rise from a chair without wincing, but the tremendous sense of satisfaction remains. And all this because I completed the Great North Run last Sunday.

What a day!

I had loaded up on carbs on Saturday and drunk a LOT of water, so woke up feeling ready for action on Sunday morning despite the 5.30am start and drizzling rain.

After a quick diversion for a bacon buttie, six of us made our way to the start. Daphne, being the super fit one of the group, left the rest of us to join the more professional runners in the orange zone, just behind the elite men – including the lovely Haile Gabreselassie, who went on to win.

The rest of us made our way to the pink zone, the spot for people who expected to finish it in three hours or longer. That was us! We were a pretty motley crew – Dad had forgotten to cut his hair the day before to get the extra aerodynamic support he had been hoping for; Mum had decided to wear a skiing sock on her head to keep the rain off; my brother Guy was sporting some very fetching leggings under a pair of baggy shorts; and his girlfriend, Anneke, had forgotten to pack a sports bra. Thankfully I had thought about my ‘outfit’ and was looking very professional in my Red Cross running vest.

We did some warm-ups with a Mr. Motivator-character, listened to Ant and Dec tell us how wonderful we all were, and then we were off!

Guy, Anneke and I were running together and we set off at a steady trot. None of us had ever done anything like this before. The crowds cheering us on really got the adrenaline going, and we kept forcing ourselves to slow down to make sure we didn’t overdo it in the first mile.

Once we were over the Tyne Bridge we settled in and tackled our first hill. Not feeling too bad. In fact, everything felt pretty good until about mile eight when I got a wicked stitch. I tried all the tricks I knew to get rid of it – clenching and unclenching fists, deep breathing – nothing worked. I had to get rid of it, so I slowed to a walk. Guy and Anneke continued and I fell behind. It didn’t take long for the stitch to disappear so pretty soon as I was back running, although now on my own.

There were some pretty interesting outfits around – I think the weirdest had to be a Paddington bear, running flanked by men and women in bunny outfits. And then there were the bands that played fantastic music along every mile – they really pepped up tired legs. But most of all I remember the people – lovely, lovely people, urging each other on, all raising money for their chosen story, many with heart wrenching stories to tell.

On three occasions, the other runners and I had to move aside as a British Red Cross ambulance came through to help injured runners. More than 450 Red Cross volunteers were on first aid duty at the event and it just re-emphasised for me why I feel so loyal to the Red Cross – always there, responding in a crisis, whether that be in Gateshead on 19 September or in Haiti, Niger, Bangladesh or anywhere else.

As the marker for mile 12 came in to view, the heavens opened, and as I came over the last hill on to the last flat stretch along the coastline of South Shields, it was spitting rain in my face the whole way. Teeth gritted, I pressed on.

I finally crossed the finish line in two hours and 36 minutes.

I was pretty happy with that – not too bad for a novice runner that didn’t once keep to her training schedule and had had the same trainers for the last ten years!

Anneke finished it in 2:29, Guy in 2:31, Mum and Dad in 3:55, and Daphne in an amazing 1:54. We all met up at the Red Cross tent afterwards, sipping cups of tea and eating malt loaf, sharing stories on the people we’d met and the tough times we’d faced, and all agreeing what a fabulous day it had been.

I had a wonderful massage from the physios at the Red Cross tent, and then we all headed off to the cars where we cracked open the bubbly and scoffed cake.

Anyone thinking about doing the Great North Run and asking my advice, I say “go for it”. It was a fantastic feeling and a tremendous sense of accomplishment, not only because I had managed to get round 13.1 miles but also because of the money I raised for the British Red Cross.

To borrow the words of Bill Bryson, an honorary northerner, “Take my car. It’s wonderful.”

It’s not too late to sponsor Heron if you’d like to recognise her efforts.

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Tags: events, great north run

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 27th, 2010 at 10:30 am and is filed under Fundraising and events, UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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