Race For Life
5th July – Race For Life, Braintree
Six weeks ago I decided to take part in Race For Life to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and to give me a goal to get fit for. Now I am somewhat un-fit…. in other words I have forgotten the meaning of the word exercise and have done nothing more than walking the dog every now and then for over a year. So like any sensible person I began training and it was soon made clear, running was not for me. I nearly died every time I went out to train and was not enjoying it at all. I tried, I really did but I just wasn’t feeling any improvement which just upset me so instead I took to riding a 12 mile route on my bike for the last couple of weeks to build up some stamina.

So before I knew it the 5th of July was here and I was on my way to Braintree to meet my sister who was running with me. The day had started a little cloudy which I  hoped would hang around to keep the temperature down. Unfortunately the clouds did begin to break up every now and then and when the sun was out it was scorching. At the event it was like a sea of pink and the atmosphere was buzzing. Once everyone had gathered they began the warm-up to get everyone going and to make sure nobody hurt themselves.

Danielle and her sister Simone.

Then came the moment of truth, everyone was moved round to the start line in 2 groups starting with the runners and followed up by the walkers. My sister and I joined the back of the runners group and then the race began. There wasn’t much room to start with so we walked forward to the start line and then began jogging. It was quite hard to begin with as there seemed to be quite a few people who had joined the runners group who weren’t running. The sun was beating down for most of the run and I did have to stop and walk a few paces every now and then mainly because I didn’t want to overheat myself. There was hardly any breeze either until we got about half way round. As we got near the finish the atmosphere gave me the energy boost I needed to run to the end. So I made it in 45 minutes without dying which I am proud of.

I also managed to raise £252 for Cancer Research UK for which I have to thank my fiance, my family, Graphic Evidence and everyone from SXOC (Nissan 200sx Owners Club, the car club I belong to) who sponsored me and supported me for this event.

Danielle Mawdsley – Designer, Graphic Evidence