Well, I did it.  I survived Race for Life 2008.  And I ran the whole 5km, despite forgetting to wear sunglasses and my iPod dying around the 2km mark.  And despite how desperately emotional I felt at the start line, reading the back plates of the other runners which described who they were running for – people who had fought against cancer, many who were still fighting.

Afterwards, as we looked at a map of Regent’s Park, Matt asked me to point out the route that we ran, and I couldn’t.  I remember a lake and some green elephant statues, but apart from that, it was just a case of putting one foot in front of another and hoping the finish line appeared soon.

Eventually it did, and when it did, I was suprised to see that the clock read something like 28:59.  5km in under 30 minutes – I was pretty pleased with that, as it’s better than I’d done in any of my training sessions.  Matt and Cautney had barely had a chance to get through the food queues between the start and the end of the race.  For me it seemed much longer, and a week later I’ve still got the blisters on the soles of my feet.

All in all, I still don’t think I’m a candidate to run the London Marathon.  But another 5km in a year or so?  When sufficient time has passed so I can forget that last km of suffering? 

I’d consider it.

Tash