Today I ran the Cadbury 10K!!

First time I've ever done an event like that ... first time I've run an event since my Track and Field days in my teens.


It's quite the event ... the marathon runners are set off at 6 am, and the half-marathon follow them at 6:30 am. There's a little break to allow some of those runners to come in, then the 5K runners were set off at 8:45 on a different route, and me and my fellow 10K runners at 9:45.

I got there (taxi + shuttle bus) at about 8:20, just in time for the first marathon runner to come across the finish line at 8:24. Great atmosphere!

And moments later, I came across one of my work colleagues! Although I knew that he and his wife ran, I didn't realise how involved they were. She ran the 10K too (much faster than me), and he was there doing photography for the club they are members of and also the Cadbury organisers. So it was nice to have someone there I knew. Another coworker was running the half, but I think she was finished by the time I got there ... she had a fast run.

Then the 10Ks were off! It was a good run. I kept to my slow pace and felt really comfortable. Except for one thing which I'll mention in a minute. I even had enough at the end to give an extra push for the last couple hundred metres.

There were a number of people running near me who were friendly, and we kept leap-frogging each other. And one other participant in the 10K was a lady who is hoping for an Olympic spot ... I was barely past the 1K point, when she was coming the other way, heading for the finish line!! Does she ever look fit and muscular!

As for the one thing I struggled with ... and I struggle with this on all my runs over 8 km (all 3 of them) ... my left foot goes numb. Like totally asleep as if I'm sitting on my leg. Really weird. I wear my shoes slightly loose, and even stopped at one point to loosen my shoe even more, but I had a numb left foot most of the way.

Despite that, I finished in 1:16:45 ... toward the back of the pack, but not dead last.

I was handed my bag with my medal, a bottle of water, and chocolate ... it is the Cadbury Run after all ... at the finish line, and then my work colleague took me over to the booth his club had set up because they had chocolate cake!!


I got in a 2.4 km walk on my way home. And after I got home, I did a 45 minute spin on my trainer downstairs just to get my legs moving a bit.

Nothing like trying something new during the year you turn 50!