This year I’ve challenged myself to run the Eden Project half marathon on Sunday 19th October 2014 in aid of Children with Cancer UK. It’ll be my first race that I’ve taken part in (bar the 3km Santa Fun Run, that I ended up walking anyway!), as a novice runner.
Around 3,600 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK: 1,600 children (0 to 14 year age group) and a further 2,000 teenagers and young adults (15 – 24 year olds). Read more on here.
The Eden Project route is renouned for being challenge with Total climb: 732 feet / 223 metres, Average climb rate: 17m/mile / 56 feet per mile, Flat equivalent distance: 13.94 miles.
The multi-terrain courses around Eden route will take runners through areas of spectacular mining heritage and beautiful countryside landscapes. Luckily there will be a pasty, a pint and a physiotherapist at the end of post-race celebration!
I’ve only been running for a couple of months, and before that I could hardly run a couple of minutes without getting out of breath. Now I can feel my fitness gradually improving.
My personal best for distance so far is 8.05km in 1 hour and my personal best for time is 5km at an average pace of 6:01 min/km in 30:05 minutes, additionally earning Sprint Queen 4th place on Pendennis Hill – Hurray! I still have a long way to go, but luckily I have a good few months ahead of me to get training.
You can guess my time and make a donation online here to help me smash my target of £200 in aid of Children with Cancer UK. Additionally, you can also keep up to date with my progress on MapMyRun (available on iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry), or find regular updates on my Twitter feed too.
– Wish me luck! xo