Rosedawn Ramblings

Over the last few weeks, I've been building up to the challenge of running 10k laps as part of a team for the London Enduro organised by running / blogging passionistas at Write This Run . I've practised off-road, hilly and multiple runs and as I wrote in my last blog post , I was as ready as I was ever going to be to take on this new challenge. But what should I expect from my first experience of an endurance event? A three hour journey to Wimbledon Common on Saturday afternoon gave me lots of opportunity to ponder the question. There were a few negatives buzzing around in my end... The usual pre-race nerves were being intensified by all the unknowns - the location, terrain, night time running and of course my team mates were all new. But there was lots of excitement too... I was a grown up big kid setting off on a new adventure! But would I actually be able to do this? I arrived at the start area for the London Enduro just as the afternoon 10k and half maratho

When I started running, I didn't really know quite where my running would take me, other than up and down the canal towpath where all those early runs took place. Over time, as my runs got longer and sense of my local geography improved, my running took me further afield and to more and more varied locations. I've run in the Olympic Stadium and of course the streets of London for the marathon back in April. Last week, my running, and specifically my involvement in Hanley parkrun , took me to a Black Tie Awards Dinner, complete with red carpet, champagne and a celebrity photo-op with Colin Jackson. We'd been nominated for a Sport in the Community Award and it was a brilliant night celebrating a wonderful event that I love being part of (even if we weren't the first finisher). On Sunday, my running took me back around my local area for my 10th half marathon, the Potters Arf. I had a brilliant day, seeing some interesting sights on the course, cheering o