Running with purpose: Salford 10k 2016

After a few months off running, my legs were pounding the pavements once again and on Sunday the 4th September I completed the Salford 10k in 1:00:15!! That’s 3 minutes off my last 10k in February and my new personal best.

This wasn’t just any old 10k race, myself and some friends (including the lovely Ellie who has a blog too) decided to complete it in honour of our beautiful best friend who tragically passed away in June. We raised money for the charities that meant the most to her, which were Dogs Trust and Mind, and together we managed to raise over £1000.

I just want to say a massive thankyou to everyone who donated to us, it means a lot and I’m so shocked that we managed to raise such an amazing amount of money that will be able to do good in the world.

Salford 10k

You’d think that because I completed a half marathon I’d have this whole running thing covered right? But I was just as nervous and worried about the run as always. I forced myself to eat my trusty protein porridge in the morning and headed off to MediaCity.

I expected it to rain, as it had been pissing it down the previous day, but it was actually a great temperature for a run. It was dry, not too cold and not too hot (unlike the 25 degree half marathon hell I faced last time!) I put my leggings on backwards and had horrible greasy hair but anyone could have predicted that!

I’ve run around Salford Quays before, so I was already familiar with the course and I had Ellie and my trusty throwback rnb playlist to keep me company. The race started off well, although we both needed a wee instantly, nevertheless we managed to keep a steady and consistent pace. We only stopped a couple of times throughout the entire run to have a drink, which is amazing considering I usually stop 4 times during a 5k run!

My shins started playing up around 6/7k but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle and before we both knew it we were running across the finish line hand in hand. The course was fairly flat so it’s perfect for beginner 10k runners, although at times it did feel a bit repetitive, I quite like going up hills because you get a change of terrain and of course you have to go down them (which is fun and easy!)

All in all the Salford 10K was great and I’m pleased with our time. Now I’ll be aiming for under an hour when I next run. It was a bittersweet day and I thought about my friend during the entire run, especially as her family cheered us on from the side. As I mentioned before, I am very grateful for everyone who has been supportive and has donated, it has meant a lot.

If you want to read about training for a half marathon, I have a couple of posts about training and getting prepared which may help you. Or could just make you want to not do it anymore….

Hannah x