Well What can i say
I signed up to run from South Shields Pier to Roker Pier and today I did it
After a lift to the start I did a warm up jog to South Marine Park to meet up with friends Jo and Jasmine.
We all then headed to the car park near the start at the pier where everybody was gathering.
Before I knew it I was in a crowd of people all heading down the sand dune onto the beach, found the sand hard to walk on at first and then realised it may be tougher than I initially thought.
There was a lovely sense of atmosphere as we gathered at the start after a walk on the sand to the start line, chatting away to friends then all of a sudden we were off, all quite spread out along the beach. I kept it steady then realised the tide had gone out and i was running through water, quite exilarating. After about 0.8 miles all the runners were aiming right i followed and.... oh a sand dune to go up, having a fear of going up uneven hills and sandy ones as that was enough to make me decide to take it easy, take a walk break just to get up it. The last thing I wanted in this race was to cause myself any damage so walk i did.
My friend Carole then caught me up as i got to the top i still hadnt got my breath back so walk/ran the next part went for the option of flat path and then a hill up that i had done before, just knew i could only walk it.
At this point i decided i wasnt doing as well as I had hoped for but pushed on and opted for shortcut across headland rather than long way round the coast (nobody else was opting for longer route) the sun was beating down i was struggling plodded along but my mind was like i need the loo i knew i had to focus on getting to Marsden Grotto whilst trying to work out if i could justify a pit stop.. arrived at grotto and took the pit stop.
Pit stop over and feeling dissapointed i then noticed friend Janis Oliver was circling as was waiting for partner who was behind, we then decided just to carry on together keeping each other going and i am glad we stuck together from 3 miles onwards good to have company. The sun was really beating down
Onto the water station grabbed a quick drink then played dodge the water cup as i struggled with breathing really dont know what was up today i just seemed to give up.
We all then followed the coastline and Janis was looking out for me but in doing so nearly gave me a fright when she lost footing and fell near the cliff edge she was fine.. phew. i also nearly fell over and went over my ankle a couple of times.
We then saw the pier we were heading too a long way in distance. Had a bad spell at 4.5 miles when i just couldnt control my breathing enough to run, a theme that seemed to develop in this run.
We arrived at the promenade in Seaburn after a climb up from the fish shop in Whitburn. Lots of friendly people assuring us we didnt have too far to go, yes i could see the pier but it was getting no closer, in my head it was getting further away was really starting to tire along promenade seeing David Daniels on his bike gave a little boost as did people saying not much further to go.
We headed round promenade and down a hill to enter the beach, the pier was getting closer i could see the finish flags in distance.
I tried to keep running but it turned into a run/walk.
Then seeing the finish i found something and saw a few tyne bridgers, (Victoria, Vicki and Debbie being the main ones i saw but sure there was more, sorry i was in the zone) watching so found a sprint finish and put what little i had left into it, actually mistook the first set of flags as the finish but then realised it was ahead and noticed the last 100m of sand was tough and hard to get through, I powered through the best i could trying not to fall over. Crossed the line and i thought i was going to be sick, after i had got breath back the feeling went and i headed to get goody bag, i do wish this wouldn't happen at the end of a race.
I DID IT I RAN FROM ONE PIER TO ANOTHER-OFFICIAL TIME 1:37:41
yes it may have been slower than what i was aiming for but i did it and so many lessons will have to be learnt from this, but the terrain made it feel much harder/longer and its just not the same as road running.
Some pictures and my time
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