Last Sunday Divya and Raj were two of the 25,000 people that ran the British 10K London Run. They trained hard, worked hard and carb-loaded hard, all to raise funds for NAM and the vital work we do. We are so grateful to them for putting themselves through the pain to support NAM, and were delighted that Raj kept us up to date with emails about how they were getting. Below is Raj's account of the experience.
"She made me do it..."
In training I had lost, I think, a tyre out of many around my waist but still Divya managed to outrun me on every occasion (sad to say by at least 5 mins or more). I reminded myself this is not a competition so its OK that Divya is so much fitter but my ego took a bruising every time! This said, one day I actually ran for my departing train and was surprised to find that I was not breathless when I jumped onto to the carriage.
Divya and I trained together, and here is a small snippet of conversation we had after one training session:
Divya: ‘so what shall we talk about for the next hour?
Raj: “Divya, don’t talk to me, I can’t talk, I can only breathe”
This follows a day of carb loading, 'because that's what athletes do'. Only it comes far more naturally to us, and we manage to do it all the time.
After a great training effort, you will be pleased to know that we completed the British 10k London Run. It was tough and a tiring run but it was fun, with over 25,000 participants taking part.
We started well and after the first km Divya asked whether she could run on ahead to which I nodded - by this time I lost my ability to speak and after about 5 sec I lost sight of her.
3 km into the run and I spotted 6 jogging RAF uniformed soldiers ahead of me. I thought I will stay right behind them. You may think I was being very ambitious and you may have been right if it were not for the 100 lb army bags they were carrying. The strategy worked well for about a couple of Kms but then my left knee started to buckle under my own weight. I continued to run with my right leg but limped with my left, it was an awkward style and one I do not think will catch on but in this fashion I limped/ran to the finish line.
My back is still hurting as are my shoulders my knees, my feet and not to forget my neck, but I feel great. My chiropractor will not be happy though!
I recommend this run to anyone who wants to get fit, raise money for charity and just have a great day out. Being with 25,000 people all running to raise money for charity is just a magnificent experience. Thank you to all those who have supported us, it has acted as an incredible motivator and its great to know we have a community of supportive friends. I hope we can repay the favour one day. Oh, and it took me 1 hr and 21 mins and it took Divya 1 hr 11 mins.
And its not too late to donate just follow the link to our page.
If you're feeling inspired and want to get involved in next year's 10k, or want to find out more about how you can raise money for NAM through your own event then contact us, we'd love to hear from you!