One of the most anticipated and well attended events on the Petts Wood Runners calendar is the Midsummers Run. This year the organisers outdid themselves!
The groups were put together so that 3 larger teams went out and along the way there were pitstops with challenges to complete and 'trophies' to collect. At the first station was a quiz gave which upon completed the team was given a pineapple to carry round the course.
At stop 2 David and Hels put on their best Sargent Major military voices and put the groups through their paces on a series of press-ups, burpies, planking, jumping jacks and other activities. All the time being shot at with David's super soaker!!
Next up, into Petts Wood we came across the infamous Cocktail & Dreams bar, amazing effort went into this, my favourite of all the challenge stops. With our very own Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown impersonators hosting this cocktail challenge. We had to guess the ingredients of a cocktail and were rewarded with cocktails of our own!!
The last stop before the finish was a cup cake decorating challenge where we had plain cupcakes and plenty of sprinkles and icing to pretty them up for judging... but mostly for eating!
Post cake decoration we headed to the finish point - with a quick team photo stop - and highlight of the evening, a garden Pimms party at Mike's house where we are all welcomed into the delightful oasis that is Mike's garden where his family rally to serve us cake, Pimms, samosa's as we await the annual prize giving.
A wonderful evening as ever with lots of laughter, smiles, running and Pimms!
Something happened after my first triathlon back in April, I wasn't sure if I enjoyed it or not. But after some very hyper encouragement from the ever energetic and slightly manic Emma we decided we would both sign up for our local sprint triathlon with Dartford and White Oak Triathlon Club. As we were super keen we first joined the club to get some help, particularly with our swim training. I had hoped that I might be able to complete the swim section in front crawl rather than my usual metronomic breast stroke. We also pulled in my friends from my first triathlon, Lexi and her husband Chris who had regretted not signing up last time so wanted to get involved.
As the race was only a few miles from home it wasn't such an early start as usual and we loaded up the bikes and got to the venue where we soon came across Emma and many other lycra clad competitors. It was a beautiful sunny morning, our support crew of my Mum arrived soon after and was our personal cheer squad and photographer appearing at multiple points around the course.
The swim was well organised and I started with a length of front crawl but my nerves got the better of me and I struggled to regulate my breathing so I reverted to breast stroke and completed the 400m in my predicted time.
Into the transition zone and i stuffed a handle of jelly babies in and hopped on my bike. Only my fourth time riding my new racing bike but I was enjoying how much faster the ride was than my hybrid without any change in effort. I made it up the first hill and to the roundabout where I saw Rob and Sonja who seems to appear at quite a lot of my events in random places, they were there for my London marathon debut when I was struggling, they were in Brussels the same time as me completing the marathon (when I ran the half). There is something reassuring to me now to see the smiley supportive pair that I know the race will go well.
The cycle was good and was faster than anticipated, about 4 miles in, Emma came speeding past me with words of encouragement, making me smile before she disappeared at an alarming rate into the distance. I reached the transition zone, my legs tired but I saw my mum again as I racked my bike, stuffed in more sweets and headed out for the final section of the event.
My run was slower than normal and as the day heated up I was starting to feel fatigued. But I pushed through taking water at the stations and being encouraged by supporters on the course. As I exited the park after two laps and headed out to the road I was really tiring and was delighted as before long the leisure centre and finish line was in sight. I crossed the line, tired but satisfied and was reunited with the support crew (Mum) and my friends. After much patting on the back we headed up the road for an Asda breakfast to refuel before heading home for a well deserved bath.
NOTE: So, although I did not know on the day I was in the early stages on pregnancy so this may account for my struggles on the final leg of the race and slower than normal running times!
