So, the dream that began on my sofa watching the Great North Run culminated in us running our race on Sunday 11 September…finishing it. Thinking back over such a momentous weekend, it’s hard to find the words to express what completing GNR means to me and how much this entire journey has shifted my perspective.
Despite all the training and preparation, GNR seemed to creep up on me and I did not feel prepared. I’d been busy with work, I’d had exams and I got injured. Although my physio told me I could participate, I still had to be careful. I had to tape my achilles and walk portions of the run. I felt I hadn’t trained much and I was nervous. Add to that the Queen’s passing and for a moment, we wondered if the race would even go ahead. All of this made me anxious but the real route of my nerves was born out of a fear of not finishing.
I was fine about walking, fine about the crowds and, if anything, quite excited about the event. But what if I couldn’t finish? What if I had to face all those who had given so much to us in donations and tell them I’d jumped on the bus at mile 6 and hadn’t completed the race?
We travelled down to Newcastle full of laughs and anticipation. It was a joy to be sharing the weekend with Sam and Katy who had both been such a huge part of my journey along-side the other 2 forces that make up the dream Team Rikobel. We were joined by my husband who was pretty strong and stoic in the face of 5 uber-expressive women. We had a wonderful 2 day race prep attending local parkruns and enjoying great food, company and laughs. Yet I didn’t dare express my real nerves. I texted a few friends back home silently admitting that I was worried about not finishing. Then I just prayed and hoped for the best.
The morning of the race flashed by in a blur; dropping our bags, finding our start line and just like that Team Rikobel were on our way. As we crossed the line, Nik said,
‘this is what dream realisation feels like Ruth, you are realising your dream!’
And she was right. I knew then that whatever happened, I had to finish this race; it was the real lap of honour following all our hard work.
People tell you about the magic of GNR, they tell you about the crowds, the live bands, the love, the positive energy, the masses shouting your name, the incredible sights and stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things for charity and those they love. People tell you all that but nothing prepares you for the true wonder of GNR; you just have to drown in it for yourself. People screamed my name and, through smiles and tears, I screamed thanks back cheering them on, lapping up the love and feeding it forward. The cheers became wings on my feet and, though the injury niggled, I kept surging forward. The day became hot unbearably so at times but our incredibly Issy kept us cool. Rushing to collect ice poles from bystanders and chucking ice water over me at each water station (I did tell her to, honest),
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I’ve never really gained a working understanding of distance. So, given that and the injury issues, I’d asked the team not to tell me about mile/KM markers, ignorance was bliss in my view. But, I knew the guide dog bus was at mile 6; when we reached it the tears began to flow. My biggest worry had been that I’d reach the half-way point with nothing left in the tank. Instead, I reached the half-way point feeling like I could go on; I started to believe I could finish.
The miles rolled on, I did tire and, as predicted, I had to walk. Isobel’s stride training meant I was able to keep the walks energised and strong, using long strides that made it easier to stretch out the injury and move back into running again when it loosened up.
8 miles became 9, then 10, then 11, and then we turned that famous corner that you see on TV, when the runners run down the hill and the sea finally comes into view. The breeze carried the salt air to me along with an even larger cheer from the crowd; the scent of a BBQ hung in the air- I was going to do this. Then, within what felt like seconds, we had crossed the line. We stood on the grass at the finish, in tears, overwhelmed crying and smiling from ear to ear. None of us had words, we just held each other in a group hug realising we had made it. Sam and Katy finished their run and we all spent a beautiful evening soaking up the energy in South Shields, sharing a fantastic meal and lots of celebratory vibes with Guide Dogs UK our chosen charity.
I could write pages about the magic of the day- the people we met, the costumes we saw and the amazing laughs we enjoyed. If you are at parkrun over the next few weeks, you’ll hear it all from us 1000 times over. Ultimately, it comes down to exactly what Nik said to me at the start - dream realisation.
This incredible journey has taught me something I thought I knew, that dreams really can come true. If you have a goal in mind and are prepared to work on it, anything is possible. We all know this but dreams feel easy to realise when you are young. Perhaps, with age, we lose the confidence to follow our dreams and our hearts. Perhaps we lose the certainty to believe in our gut, to believe that we have what it takes to change our own destiny. The moment that medal was hung around my neck, I realised it was true and made a new commitment to do exactly that. I also realised that it is critical for us to keep on raising the bar for ourselves in life, even more so if we have a disability, as society will never do that for us.
Most of all I realised that we truly are interdependent. The wonder of my journey is not what I achieved but the beauty of the component parts that brought it all together. From Andrea telling her co-worker about parkrun, who reached out to Moira and put us in touch. To everyone at Strathclyde parkrun who welcomed me into such a loving, passionate and inclusive community. To everyone who has guided me on my runs (we counted 14 at the last count and its growing all the time), everyone who has volunteered and cheered me over the line, to all those who donated to our page and shared our story far and wide. Before this journey, I tended to compartmentalise my connections never getting too close to anyone for fear of not really being seen or accepted. The parkrun family gave me an equal and affirming space in which I could simply be myself, that has been the biggest miracle/light on the path.
Most of all, I owe the biggest thanks to Nik and Isobel for everything they did to make this dream a reality. Their kindness, support, organisation, logistical planning (because I have absolutely none), and their unshaken belief in me is truly humbling and inspiring. My thanks to Nik for being an amazing friend, for her patience and passion on the journey, for all the late night runs after work, for all the deep chats, the hugs, the coffee and the laughs - you are a friend for life.
To Issy, for being an inspiring guide, for giving me back my childhood love of free running, for being a great baker, for being all round ‘mum’ to our group and keeping us right and being an utterly phenomenal wing woman on Sunday- we could not have done it without you!
Some of you might be asking so what next? Up till now, I’d always truly believed that GNR was my goal and once done I’d be happy to revert back to my spectator sport of watching runs from the comfort of my sofa; both Nik and I agree that vision2run can’t end here. We don’t know exactly what next; I need to rehabilitate the injury and pass my finals. We do know we want to do some awareness raising work, especially among visually impaired children and families. We want to share the joy of running I’ve discovered with so many others. We want to continue the blog and I, for one, want to cash in on Nik’s exceptional marketing skills demonstrated all over our socials. Also …, I might have signed up for the GNR Ballot reminder service for 2023 … ya know, … for information purposes only!
We don’t know exactly what’s on the horizon but we know there is more to do. I know for sure that parkrun has been the best part of my journey and will be a key part of my life forever.
Thank you each and everyone of you for making my dream come true. You are all beautiful people and I could not have done this without you.
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