It’s been a beautiful day for a lovely 10 mile run in the Surrey/Kent borders. Organised by the Lingfield Running Club, and starting and finishing at Lingfield College, the route took us through countryside, fields and woods. Although this year is all about half marathons, I have tried to mix it up a bit – May’s run was actually 16 miles, and this one is 10. I must say I think ten miles is just the perfect distance. I don’t know why there aren’t more in the calendar.

Thank goodness the weather was a bit cooler than yesterday – in fact it was pretty much perfect – sunny but with a cooling breeze. Steve (a good friend who’s training for an ultra!) and I arrived in good time to collect our race numbers, use the loo, and make our way with the other runners to the actual start, which was a little way from the College. An unwitting cyclist managed to get in with the crowd at the beginning of the race, not sure what happened to him, but I hope he didn’t get trampled over! There were two runs today – a 10 km, and 10 mile, but we all started together, and the routes divided after a couple of miles.

Although the beginning of the run was dry underfoot I was glad I had my trail shoes on as we got into the woods. Plenty of mud and puddles! We picked our way round them as nimbly as possible, and I was quite pleased not to slip or plunge my foot into the mud.

There were some long hills between miles 3 and 5, but the route was almost flat or downhill for the last couple of miles, which is good planning in my book! As well as woods there were some lovely stretches through wheat fields, and past pretty cottages and gardens.

The marshalls were great – signing the way, and ensuring safe road crossings. I am always so grateful to all the volunteers (from the running club today) who are so essential to these events. I feel especially grateful on these trail runs because I would never be able to do a run like this without the fantastic organisation and marshalling of local clubs like Lingfield.

As I ran today I was also reminded of how lucky we are in the UK to have such an extensive network of public footpaths that allow access to woodlands, and across farmers’ fields.

I really enjoyed myself today, and am very pleased with my time of 1:41:36 (that’s according to my Garmin – official results don’t seem to be out yet). I’m also feeling very pleased that I am now HALF WAY through my endeavour of a half marathon (or thereabouts 🙂 ) every month in 2019! Six down – six to go!

I am so grateful to all who have supported me and JDRF – every pound helps fund research into a cure for Type 1 diabetes. I’m almost 70% there towards my target of £2000 – here’s the link if you’d like to add to the pot! Thank you! 🙂