I had run this race 3 years ago so was determined that I wanted to beat the time I did then!
The run has an unusually late start time of 1.15pm so Thankfully I still got my usual Saturday morning lie in!
I got up at around 9.30am and actually enjoyed my bowl of porridge as it was too early for my nerves to have kicked in!
At 11.30am I also had a peanut butter sandwich before setting off from our home town of Kendal at 12.00pm for the 27 mile journey to the start line at Wray!
We left home in brilliant sunshine so I opted to wear a vest top and shorts, at the last minute I took a pair of cropped tights with me "just in case"!
We headed off down the motorway with plenty of time to spare to discover that the motorway exit we were due to go on was closed for road works! Panic momentarily set in as we reprogrammed the TomTom for an alternative route! Luckily there was an easy alternative and we still amanged to arrive in plenty of time at 12.30pm.
There was a field which was opened as a carpark at a £2 charge.
After parking I went to collect my registration number in the village before heading back to the car to get organised.
I was so pleased I had taken my "just in case" tights with me as the weather was considerably colder here than at home!
I fertively changed out of my shorts into my tights in the car before heading to the porto-loos for a nevous wee! Thankfully there was no queues for this!
We then headed back into the village to look at all the Scarecrows before heading to the start line which was a 10 minute walk from the centre of the village.
It had turned really chilly by this point and I was grateful I had brought my warm jacket to wear before running!
Once at the start line I de-robed and positioned myself fairly close to the front as it wasn't a chip timed event so every second counted!
There was no count down just a blast of a whistle which signaled we were on our way!
Being near the front I was overtaken by a crowd of thundering runners before I could happily settle down into my pace!
I remembered there was a substantial hill at the 2 mile mark and was ready for it! What I wasn't ready for was the rest of the route being so undulating! I had totally erased this part from my memory!
There was a water station at the 3 mile mark which I was ready for so I momentarily walked to enable me to guzzle some water before getting off on my way again!
The sun had now reappeared and I was feeling slightly hot and was beginning to regret not wearing my shorts after all!
However, I pushed on determined to beat my last time on this course!
As I passed the 6 mile mark I passed a couple of Ladies who are in my running club (who were spectating not running!), they gave a double take before realising it was me and cheering me on. This gave me a much needed boost to get me to the finish line!
As I approached the finish line through the main street in the village the traffic was congested and I had to negotiate my way through cars without getting run over to reach the finish line! I tried to sprint to the finish and overtake a lady just in front of me but she noticed that I was about to overtake her and put her foot down big time! I really need to work on my sprint finishes!
However, I was still delighted to go through the finish in 53:22 compared with 55:51 last time, and was even more delighted to receive a nice medal for my efforts!
I was tired at the finish but not too tired to enjoy a double 99 ice cream!
It was a lovely scenic route and if I can successfully erase the memory of the hills again I will definitely do it again!
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