Our next challenge came to us as we prepared to face another 5k run with an upgrade of a Santa dress this time. On July 12th 2017 my brother wrote a blog on the previous 5k run we accomplished. Along with it he had taken lead and came around 5 mins ahead of me. This was my chance to take his position and beat my personal best time which was approximately 29 mins and 10 seconds, for Havens Hospice.
The event was located in Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea. The park was extraordinarily massive with a land space of 125 acres. The weather didn’t seem to disappoint us; it was rather relaxing with intermittent clouds and wind speeds of 5 mph. As we arrived we noticed that there were a bunch of people packed, wearing bright red suits, acicular red hats and long white curly beards. We parked our car and made our way to Santa’s Grotto, where a crowd of people were dressed up in a Santa suit and many more waiting in the queue to get one. As we came on behalf of our school, we didn’t have to register for participating in the run. However our parents had to sign up in the park for participating in the run.
When I wore the suit I could already sense signs of discomfort in my body. The trousers were extremely long, nevertheless the shirt was much better with the belt wrapped around my waist. The finishing touch of Santa’s look was the beard. Forget about the trousers, the beard was hanging down my chin with some fur going inside my mouth. It was unpleasant. However I was yearning to get started with the run.
Before we commenced our race to the finish line, a small session of warming up took place. A person dressed in a bear suit instructed us by doing some humorous exercises which surprisingly did the job. Finally the instructor mentioned all the health and safety information. To get started with the run we were told to do the Mexican wave. It didn’t quite go the way it was meant to; the group of people at the back were just staring at the front like a solid rock, doing nothing.
The time had come for us to make a move. I was anxiously waiting to hear the loud bang which starts the run off. I counted in my head. 3… 2 …1… And there it was. I started at a steady pace to keep up with my brother and for a few seconds I had confirmed to myself that I was almost at the front of the run. Then I realized that there were an innumerable amount of people ahead of me heading towards the finish line, including elders!
However good the park was, the path we ran on didn’t really meet my expectations as it was varying from place to place with an uneven surface making it a bit hard to race across (for me). However, about 10 mins into the run, in the distance I could just barely see the finish line. I thought it was all over. Then I came to know that you had to do two laps around the same path. On the second lap, the shirt started to irritate me as it kept sliding off, which drained my energy since I had to pull it back up.
My main aims were to lead my brother and beat my personal best time (about 29 mins). I kept sprinting, seeing people zoom past my face without notice. Oh, and there was my brother. I ran for my life to attain his position. We were neck and neck. Taking loud and big exhales, I said ‘I caught up to you!’ As soon as those words came out my mouth, he charged his way to the finish line which was about a 1 km away from where we were.
Finally, I saw the finish line in the distance. I came to a halt after the exhausting yet entertaining charity run. I was lurking for my brother, who had successfully come in front of me. He had informed me that he finished at a very respectable time of 23 mins and 56 seconds, which is quite an improvement. Whereas I took 27 mins and 3 seconds. I wasn’t really expecting to take that long but I am proud that I had also made an improvement from the previous run. At the end of the day, it was a fun run which did amuse my time.
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