So here I present catch-up day 3.
Looking Back
I've been looking back through my photos and there's so much that I could share but not really enough hours in the day so I've been selective and chosen some highs and lows - one day had both in true pleasure/pain style! I think I'll start with that one.
It was the inaugural staging of this event, the Green Chain marathon, organised by a fellow 100 marathon club member Gareth, who created 1miletogo events, and was held in area I used to know quite well just outside Croydon. This was only my second time running one of Gareth's events, my first being the Vanguard Way marathon back in August.
The start and finish were in Mottingham Sport Centre and the 4 lap route took us alongside playing fields, along part of the Green Chain Way, which is a series of public footpaths through woods & semi-rural areas, and along residential streets. There were 3 distances to choose from : 10k, 1/2 marathon and full marathon. There were a few people I knew there and it was lovely to catch up with some I hadn't seen for a while.
Now this event was an excellent example of the Pleasure Principle, or rather the pleasure-pain principle in this instance:
Pleasure - I love running
Pain - I don't like falling over
I'll start with the 'pain' part and it's really one of those "what the @3!%" ones! I completed Lap 1 in a good time and was delighted to find I was running well, no breathing issues and feeling strong. I set off on Lap 2 and I noticed that the Playing fields were now getting busy with several football matches taking place, lots of spectators and many dog walkers out enjoying the lovely weather. Although the path was getting busy there was still plenty of room to pass people.
Then it happened.
I ran past an elderly lady with a small yappy dog on one of those really long extending leads. I thought she had little or rather no control over the dog and almost exactly at the moment I had that thought the dog rushed across my path causing me to trip over the long lead, stumble (trying to stay upright), stumble (I don't think I can save this), stumble (I'm going to fall), fall. I landed head-first on top of one of those metal bike racks.
OUCH!
Thankfully it was on grass as it could have been much worse on the tarmac. I picked myself up and then carried on. The old lady was completely oblivious to any of this as she was about 20 feet behind and looking the other way, watching the football. My forehead felt a bit sore but I didn't feel concussed so I just settled back into a slightly slower place to let myself recover.
Here I am after Lap 2, still smiling (silly woman!).
....and there's more!
On Lap 3 I was running through a wooded area which had a few low-lying branches at head-height so you had to be careful not to prang them back onto anyone running behind you. Unfortunately, I was running behind a young woman who had headphones on and was unaware of what was going on around her. Yep, she pranged a big branch back onto me and it whacked me across my nose. She continued her self-centred run completely aware of what had happened. As these sort of things come in 3s I spent the last lap avoiding everyone!
So let's get rid of the 'pain' bit first because I'm delighted to say that there was a 'pleasure' part to this sorry tale.
I had my cap on which hid a lot of my forehead and cast a shadow over my nose so I had no idea what I looked like until I got back to my car. I could feel a slight bump on my forehead and my nose felt a bit sore on the bridge. It didn't look too bad in the car mirror but 3 hours later when I'd bathed and changed the bruising had developed nicely and it looked like this:
Poor Mike was horrified and said it looked as if I'd been beaten-up! Thankfully, the bruising on my nose disappeared after a couple of days but the bruising on my forehead persisted for about 10 days so I wore a headband which covered most of it.
So what's the 'pleasure' part of this incident? Here I am heading for the finish line, still smiling:
I got a nice goody bag and a medal but better still I got a prize for being 2nd Lady!
In a similar incident a few week later, my poor friend Ruth took a horrible tumble down at Samphire Hoe on a rough and very gritty track. This was another incident of thoughtless dog walkers who had their dog on a really long lead whilst chatting away completely oblivious to what it was doing. The dog wrapped the lead around her legs and the poor girl went flat on her face.
At the time it looked much worse than this as there was soooooo much blood. Being a true warrior though she got herself cleaned up and carried on.
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