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| In the pink |
Two worlds collided here at Battersea Park this evening, when I ran this extra special 5k for Women's Running magazine, as one of its stalwart and always-up-for-it contributors, but also felt myelf to be a member of the Tesco crew, as I often freelance for that company's magazine and related media concerns.
This professional multi tasking was further complicated by my stupid pride, as I so wanted to be seen as a proper runner by both organisations. Thankfully, I fulfilled my self-imposed remit of coming home ahead of all of my colleagues, although probably came across as a bit sad, competitive and desperate in the process.
Like so many women, my first experience of proper distance running was completeing a Race for Life, for me it was back in 2006. It was at Blackheath on a very hot day. I remember feeling chagrined that the effort made me, as a mother of three, wet myself (that seldom admitted stress incontinence issue that so many running mummies suffer, and so few admit to)., but mostly delighted that I completed the run in something like 27 mins and felt extraordinarily good about myself.
Today I witnessed that feeling manifest itself in my Tesco colleagues and felt happy for them. I felt pleased with myself, too, as 12th woman in a time of 21.56 or so. My internal crow was silenced however, by a woman called Julia talking so eloquently about her six year old son, Rufus an his leukemia.He endured a year of hell, but is still with us, smiling sweetly as she spoke. That's what Race for Life is all about. Thank you, Cancer Research UK, and thank you Tesco, for raising the millions of pounds for research that saves the lives of little boys like Rufus, their running mummies, sister, aunts and cousins and everyone (the whole wide world?) whose life has been clouded by cancer.
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