Tuesday 5 August 2014

Return to the Park - The National Lottery Run

Last year I had been lucky enough to secure last minute entrances for my Carley, Jack and myself to run the 1st National Lottery run.
Carley ran the full 5 miles and I ran (well carried mostly) the much shortly 2.5km family run with Jack. The uniqueness was the finish was on the Olympic track where only a few months earlier we had seen Paralympians compete at The 2012 Games.
It was a great day as I got to share it with my family.
This year I was running solo and the full 5 miles.  Plus as the stadium was being rennovated ready for the Rugby World Cup the course didnt enter the stadium. Instead it looped around the Olympic park. Ill be honest it was a little boring as far as scenery goes. 
Race day was also HOT, really HOT!! Plus my training had hit a bit of a slump so I wasnt as prepared or confident as I would of liked to be :(
This was also the first race where I wore my compression calf guards. They are supposed to help by protecting your calves, aiding recovery. They are not the most fashionable of items so I hope they work ;)
I set off a little fast as I got caught up in tge crowd. After about 1.5 miles I found my pace and soldiered on.
If you have never been to the Olympic Park, dont be fooled...its hilly! Some of the surrounding roads we ran had some cheeky gradients that caught you out.

The event over was incredible well organised with lots of free water at the start and a welcome water station & shower. Not sure what its officiall called but you run through a tent with water being sprayed at the roof. This created a light and refreshing haze for you to run through.
With so many events this year Return to the park was not my favourite event. Possibly as I am not used to finishing a race and being able to get home without getting changed. I felt like at tge finish I had to find some mud and crawl through it a bit ;)  Yes I really do #lovemud
Still a great bit if race bling and another achievement in the bag, however,  the big plus is I now have priority entrance into the 2015 event which will once again finish in tge stadium and on the track. 
Bring on 2015 ;)



Pics: 2014 Run the Park

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