I Completed my 5km!
The sun was beating down by 9 am.
Managed to get to Kingston Maurward despite several of my intended lifts backing out for various reasons. Managed to miss the train by about two minutes (grrrrrr) so I ran along sea front looking for a bus going to Dorchester - this weekend was also the Veteran's Parade in Weymouth so half the sea front was barricaded and no buses were going from Kings Statue.
I got to the Tourist Info booth and they told me the buses were running but from the bus station! So I ran back to the bus station and found a bus just leaving for Dorchester. That was twenty minutes of jogging before I got anywhere near the race!
From Dorchester I got a sympathetic Taxi driver who took me the in Bockhampton route (no sniggering at the back there!) which meant I arrived £10 worse off and just ten minutes before the race began!
We had enough time to do some warm up exercises so I pinned on my race placards, one with my running number and the other with a dedication to my Auntie Jan, who died of cancer 5 years ago. Got chatting with another girl who was there on her own and we agreed to walk round together for mutual support.
As it turns out we have lots in common and had a really lovely walk. We were touched by the dedications on some people's backs - there were girls younger than me who had lost parents and siblings to cancer - one was a tiny little girl in a pink dress with her own placard which read 'Grandma XXX' and she was so tiny she was on reins as she was only just walking! There was a mother with her baby strapped to her front! Children of all ages were walking with us and keeping up a really good pace. It was rather humbling and saddening to think that all 2000 of the women in the race had been affected by cancer in some way, enough to spur them to raise this money and dedicate this much time and energy.
However the feeling at the end of the race was very uplifting - we stayed to cheer in the very last walkers before walking back to my new friend's car.
On the way up to the bus stop for me to get back to Weymouth we chatted about spirituality and it transpires that she's a Buddhist and has a meeting group in Dorchester and Weymouth. So we have now exchanged numbers and she gave me a brochure for her sect of Buddhism (SGI) and I might try to join the local group!
Fantastic day!
Will have to go in to work and collect my sponsorship money tomorrow - £83 so far - maybe I can push it to £100!
Rounded today off with venison sausages on the BBQ and a large glass of lemonade. I'm a happy girl ;D
Managed to get to Kingston Maurward despite several of my intended lifts backing out for various reasons. Managed to miss the train by about two minutes (grrrrrr) so I ran along sea front looking for a bus going to Dorchester - this weekend was also the Veteran's Parade in Weymouth so half the sea front was barricaded and no buses were going from Kings Statue.
I got to the Tourist Info booth and they told me the buses were running but from the bus station! So I ran back to the bus station and found a bus just leaving for Dorchester. That was twenty minutes of jogging before I got anywhere near the race!
From Dorchester I got a sympathetic Taxi driver who took me the in Bockhampton route (no sniggering at the back there!) which meant I arrived £10 worse off and just ten minutes before the race began!
We had enough time to do some warm up exercises so I pinned on my race placards, one with my running number and the other with a dedication to my Auntie Jan, who died of cancer 5 years ago. Got chatting with another girl who was there on her own and we agreed to walk round together for mutual support.
As it turns out we have lots in common and had a really lovely walk. We were touched by the dedications on some people's backs - there were girls younger than me who had lost parents and siblings to cancer - one was a tiny little girl in a pink dress with her own placard which read 'Grandma XXX' and she was so tiny she was on reins as she was only just walking! There was a mother with her baby strapped to her front! Children of all ages were walking with us and keeping up a really good pace. It was rather humbling and saddening to think that all 2000 of the women in the race had been affected by cancer in some way, enough to spur them to raise this money and dedicate this much time and energy.
However the feeling at the end of the race was very uplifting - we stayed to cheer in the very last walkers before walking back to my new friend's car.
On the way up to the bus stop for me to get back to Weymouth we chatted about spirituality and it transpires that she's a Buddhist and has a meeting group in Dorchester and Weymouth. So we have now exchanged numbers and she gave me a brochure for her sect of Buddhism (SGI) and I might try to join the local group!
Fantastic day!
Will have to go in to work and collect my sponsorship money tomorrow - £83 so far - maybe I can push it to £100!
Rounded today off with venison sausages on the BBQ and a large glass of lemonade. I'm a happy girl ;D