On Sunday 15th October, John and I did the Lee Valley Run 
The River 10K starting and finishing at the pretty awesome Lee Vall
ey Athletic Centre which is the home of Team GB athletic training ground. This event was organised by the Edmonton Running Club. We actually ran along part of the Lee Navigation Canal rather than the river. Due to the width restriction of the towpath plus runners need to share the towpath with other users such as cyclists, hikers, dog walkers and anglers, this event can only offer 500 places. John forgot to register and when he realised he forgot to register a week before the event, it was already full. So on that morning he turned up and asked the organiser whether they had any spare place as 15 minutes before the start, there were about 50’ish bib numbers that were not collected. The organiser said under the UKAA licence condition, bib numbers are not transferable. However, the entire route is public place and there is no road closure from public. For this reason, the organiser told John that he could run along the route. He just wouldn’t get the official time, medal, t-shirt and goodie bag (John was offered water and bananas though).
As for me, after missing a lot of training in the past month due to chest infection, I had no plan, no target. I just wanted to see how I got on with no idea how long it would take me to complete the 10k or how much the run might hurt my respiratory system again!…… as I set off.
I started in a gentle pace and was already overtaken by a number of runners. I just followed the pack. My pace was quite stable in the first couple of miles in about 9 and half minutes a mile pace. The rest of the run was fairly pleasant along the canal except on 3 and half K we had to climb up the steps to the foot bridge in order to cross to the opposite side. We had to repeat this on 7K to get back to the original side where we came from to head back to the finish. There was a stretch of grass surface for about half a kilometre where I found my footing was a bit more difficult on soft terrain. Nettles and other plants on that stretch had made it difficult to keep up a good pace.
The weather was great for running with just below 20°C overcast and dry. One thing worth noting is that some of the trees branches along the canal are very low. Being a short person like me, I had to duck below those tree branches. For those taller runners, they must have to duck below those branches so many times to avoid clashes.
After 8k, I felt like I’d reached my limit. My breathing was hard and my legs started aching. I attributed this to lack of training. Both my body and my mind were slowing down. By then I was already on 11 minutes a mile pace. My mind tried to push but my body didn’t collaborate. I picked a runner in front of me. Her pace was chaseable and she looked pretty relaxed. I made sure not to let her out of my sight. I picked up my pace a bit during the chase. I managed to keep a short proximity from her until crossing the finish line. I finished in 58’14”. It was not a good time but I pushed the hardest in the final 2K. For full result, please visit:
John finished unofficially in 1:03’00”.