I ran the half marathon in Liverpool, today (Sunday 18th March), for the NACC (National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease).
The charity aims to improve life for people with Crohn’s Disease and Colitis. These conditions last a lifetime and affect around 250,000 people in the UK. There is no known cure, and the impact on education, work, social and family life can be devastating, with teenagers and young adults most at risk.
The donations page closed on the 17th April and I managed to raise for £450 for the charity. Once again, a big thank you to all those who sponsored me.
The Race
The aim was always to get through the 13 miles in one piece. Unfortunately, I’m far too competitive; I have my dad to blame for that. My aim, all along, was to try to finish in under 2 hours. Based on my training, I guessed that I’d finish in around 1 hour 55 mins.
I made a fairly slow start but reached the split, the 10k mark, in 0:49:45 with a pace of 8:00 mins per mile. That gave me an estimated finishing time of 1 hour 45 mins. About a mile and a half from the end, with the steward informing me that “the 12 mile marker was just around the corner, I picked up the pace; it was anything but ‘just around the corner’.
As I began the last mile, I realised I was on track to finish below 1 hour 45mins. I put my foot down, to see if I could sneak under the 1 hour 40mins mark. I fell just short but managed to complete the race in 1:40:41 with an overall pace of 7:41 mins per mile. After the race, the pain set in and I’m still hurting as I type this.
Thanks to everyone for their sponsorship; a family member suffers from Crohn’s so it means a lot. Despite affecting over 250,000 people, little is known about Crohn’s and Colitis. Hopefully, this money can go some way to changing that. Once again, thanks ever so much for your messages and donations.
