Christmas Pudding Race!

On Saturday I had a weirdly wobbly moment and decided that everybody else would be faster than me and it would be better all round if I didn't even bother to turn up.... Defeatist or what? It had been a long week... I gave myself a good talking to, and got up ready and raring to go on Sunday....

So here I am at the start - I'd met up with Fit Mark who was obviously going to run ahead of me and faster than me (so what's new?!). I'm wearing my 'I Made It Myself' Christmas Pudding hat... There were a few people in fancy dress but it was largely proper runners. Proper Runners being those who actually know what they're doing...

I wasn't actually running with the dogs - Guy had them there for a lovely walk while I was racing. 'Racing' is actually another word for 'plodding' - did you know?

The start was delayed because of ice which was just fine because the queues for the loos were epic...

The start of the race goes straight up 'The Highest Single Sand Dune in Europe' - it's 808 feet! I had thought running on sand was going to be hard going, but it's actually really nice - very springy and soft. Better than tarmac!

At the top there was a real bottleneck so I stood around for probably 10 minutes, then we were off again... running down, then up, then down a huge dune... Guy got a lovely picture of the dune, I'm in there somewhere!

And it was such a gorgeous morning - cold but just look at that blue sky!

After the down dune we were back near the start then a couple of kilometres on roads and fields, then up again to the top of the nearby common (windy) and to the mulled wine and sherry and shortbread and mince pies stop. Damned Fine Idea. I had some mulled wine, hoping to regain the giggly state enjoyed with Beagle Nic last weekend. I obviously didn't drink enough to make it work...

After the common it was downhill to the sewage treatment plant (bit whiffy) then along the river and across the sand dunes to the finish. By this time I was seriously plodding - I have decided I'm one-paced. And it's a slow one-pace... And I met Guy and the dogs - fab! So obviously I stopped for a photo... Yes, you're right, I do look slightly pained... This was at about 8k and the last three (well spread out) marshalls had all said 'It's only a mile from here!'

I finished in 1 hour 23 minutes. The winning woman did it in 38 minutes. To be fair, she was in her twenties...

Still, on the plus side I've got two little Christmas Puddings - lovely! And lots of people admired my hat - fellow runners, marshalls and spectators.

To illustrate just how slowly I run, I had this entire conversation with a little girl and her dad in the space of about 10 yards:

Little Girl: "Come On Pudding Head!"

Dad: "That's not very nice, calling her Pudding Head..."

Me: "I think it's a jolly good name for me as I've got a pudding on my head!"

Dad: "Fair enough. COME ON PUDDING HEAD!"

Will I do it again next year? Probably!

And I'll try and be quicker...