Sarah Stirks review of the Leicester Town & Gown 10k on 17/03/2019…
I heard about the Town and Gown run a couple of years ago, my best friend has Muscular Dystrophy and she is always trying to talk me into it. This year I decided to stop avoiding such events (they make me really anxious!) and I signed up just a few weeks ago. On the morning itself I felt my usual nervous pre-event anxiety, but the event was really well organised, and I was probably the least nervous I have ever been! It was easy to collect your race number etc, drop your bag off (free, but a suggested donation of £1), lots of toilets (very important, and no porta loos either!), and plenty of space for everyone. We had a 5 minute warm up on Victoria Park which was great fun too. The run consists of 3 laps around the Leicester Uni campus, and Victoria Park. There were 3 hills I had not anticipated which a fellow runner suggested I was making look easy, but I think he was just trying to keep me going! I didn’t have anyone who could come and support me sadly, and the running friends I arrived with had long since left me in their dust. I ran around the route and I thought about how much my best friend would give anything to be able to run, and that totally spurred me on. I think sometimes as runners we can put too much pressure on ourselves, times become more important than they possibly should be, and if we’re not careful we can begin to lose our enjoyment of it. We should be so thankful that our bodies can do what they can do, and enjoy every run, regardless of time and ability. I personally loved doing 3 laps, it was easier for me to pace myself, and anticiptate those 3 killer hills. There was an additional hill right at the end as an additional ‘treat’ too! I thoroughly enjoyed the run, and I would highly recommend it. It is so well organised, it’s a great route, and a decent bit of bling too :0) I was surprised to finish in 58 minutes 54 seconds given the hills and the severe winds (being an asthmatic running in the wind is particularly challenging for me), a PB for me too! I’ll be there again next year, and this time I am going to enter sooner and do some serious fund raising.
