This time last week, James & I were frantically searching our rather chaotic house for a few key things; my race for life t-shirt (turns out I washed it and it was away in the drawer!), my joggers, and the race for life number & back sign… We are always very organised! 
At 10pm, I realised that we only had 6 safety pins.. Oops! Although this could have worked if I used the two pin method for one of my signs, @hayles was also missing this vital ingredient. So, my ever put upon husband took me to spar to try to hunt some down.
Yep, very organised, James & I.
At an unmentionable time on Saturday morning, James forced me to get out of bed and bundled me & the dog into the car. It was at this point that I was cursing about deciding to do Race for Life in Bristol. I wasn’t complaining about my decision to take part, you understand, but rather the fact that I chose to do it on a Saturday morning in Bristol. Bristol, of all places! It’s not like I couldn’t have done it in Birmingham, there were several on. They wouldn’t have required quite such an early wake up time! I blame Hayley, personally.
Homily after the race – Photo by @nixgeek
We arrived at Hayley’s house at a slightly unsociable time, and proceeded to drink a well needed coffee and play with their dog, Fern. I think that she easily qualifies as the most hyperactive dog I’ve met, tied with my friends dog Joop, that is. Homily was completely confounded by this animal. That’s not entirely surprising though, as her idea of activity is getting up to have a drink! It was nice to play fetch with a dog who actually goes and gets the ball though, for a change. Hom just isn’t interested I’m anything that isn’t edible.
The four of us (and Hompom) headed up to the Clifton Downs to meet up with @unbrokenreality & @kateykatey. James and Alex were designated official dumping ground for belongings, and Alex designated himself official photographer. As I’m sure you can imagine, the prospect of having someone take photos of you when you’re planning to do any sort of physical activity on a warm day isn’t the nicest thing in the world.
We walked the 5km course in just over an hour1, and it was really nice to chat to each other and laugh together on the way round. Even Homily made it all the way, with only a few two-minute breaks where I would carry her a little way, whenever it seemed like she was flagging a bit! We were greeted with goodie bags and our medals, including one for Homily!
One of my cousins sponsored me as we hit the 2km mark – it was very motivating to be pushed over the £300 mark as we walked round!
Just crossed the finish line! – Photo by @jamescorkhill
After a quick shower and change back at Hayley’s, we headed into the city centre for our reward – milkshakes at Rocotillos! I swear, if I could find somewhere in Birmingham that did proper milkshakes like these people, I would be making up excuses to go there all the time. “oh, its wednesday, let’s celebrate with shakes?” … “you’ve found a missing sock? Wooohooo, time for milkshakes” … And so on. Nom nom nom.
Hayley & Alex very kindly offered us a bed for the night, so we headed back to theirs for a quiet evening and some well deserved rest! We headed back to Birmingham in the morning, after watching far too much of the hollyoaks omnibus. I don’t like soaps as a general rule, but I found it oddly compelling!
With our medals – Photo by @nixgeek
I have managed to raise over £300 for Cancer Research UK, which I am absolutely delighted about! If you want to donate you still can though, so please please please head over to my sponsorship page and donate securely & quickly online.
This experience was really great – and it meant a lot to me, so I’m really pleased I took part. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated, I am so grateful for your support!
- ~1:02:30 hrs, to be more specific. [↩]
