Yesterday morning it was once again time to dust off my running shoes, pin on my number and stock up on inspirational power ballads. It was the day of the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon. I ran for Cancer Research UK and my wonderful crowd of sponsors (family, friends and colleagues) rallied to the fundraising call, made donations and bought cakes from my bake sale. The current total is £536.80, so bravo to all of you and thank you: in total this year you’ve raised over £900 for an excellent cause. Of course, this support also gave me extra motivation to pull out all the stops. If I didn’t push myself to my limits, I wouldn’t just be letting myself down, but I’d be letting all my sponsors down; and I’m just not that kind of girl.

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Yesterday in the centre of London it was almost 28 degrees (Celsius) and 10,700 people were crowded around me on the starting line, including (at the front of the pack) international athletes like Mo Farah, Jo Pavey and Paula Radcliffe.  I had never run a race before and the atmosphere at the start was electrifying.  I was somewhere near the back of the pack, along with the other charity runners and people dressed as dragons, dogs and superheroes.  My parents had warned me that the family honour would be dented if I was beaten by anyone dressed as a rhino.

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