2010 Progress Entrant - Ewan Mackenzie

Contents:- -Intro- Report -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -(Look back 1)- -6- -7- -8- -9- -(Look back 2)- -10- -11- -12- -13- -14- -15- -16- -17- -Final-

Report (Final) - 16/05/10

RACE TIME 53 mins 56 secs - Mission Accomplished or maybe not. Maybe now Part 1 - Mission Accomplished. Firstly let me say I have had eighteen weeks of training, no blood, no tears but buckets of sweat. Ran over 300 miles and shed over 35lb in weight and all in all it has been a wonderful and probably a life changing experience for me.

Last Sunday I really enjoyed it and it was a great day out and to manage the time I did I must confess I was well chuffed. Seeing my training partner who I affectionately christened 'The Taskmaster' - my wife Sandra, coming in with a personal best time also added greatly to my pleasure on the day.

On Race Day I was surprisingly nervous and I was parading around all morning constantly checking my watch. On arrival at Mey the feel good factor, all the good luck and encouragements I had received since January continued. Once the race started I got settled into a pace that I felt almost comfortable with and felt reasonably good for the first 2 - 3 miles, the first major pain came on the uphill stretch from Longoe Farm to the 5k mark. This was very difficult and at this stage I think the penny dropped that I had probably gone off too quickly but I re-grouped took it slightly easier for a half km and trudged on. The next testing section of the race came when we left the main road and climbed up to the road on the top side of Mey, with trees on that stretch sheltering the wind it was very hot and it was again a fair old struggle. On the way into the Castle I started to feel my own personal sense of achievement and I managed to push on and try and do a sprint finish. I'm sure I was sprinting to the line but my daughter Chloe who was watching quipped afterwards 'Why did you not sprint at the end Dad?' so say no more!!

On reflection I have managed to achieve more or less everything I set out to do in January and yes I will continue to run. I would urge anyone who is hiding behind the truth opposite their fitness and weight to get running and volunteering to be one of the featured runners is something I would thoroughly recommend to anyone. Going public and sharing it with everyone had very little negatives, it also meant there was no turning back and on the positive side the encouragement and support I received from so many people really kept me going especially on the painful and sore days when I was training.

Now that this marvellous adventure is over for this year - I would like to thank all the organisers of the Mey 10K for putting on a great local event. Special mention to Donna from the committee for her help, a big thank you to everyone who encouraged me since January and a special thank you to The Taskmaster Sandra for putting up with me since January, for encouraging me, for driving me on and for keeping the lid of my enthusiasm, it certainly made the whole experience more manageable and more enjoyable.

Roll on Mey 10K 2011 and thee beast inside me that's the competitive one already has me aiming to break the 50min mark.