Races & a great new sponsor :)

The last few weeks since my last post on here have flown by & as usual I have been rather busy with running.Firstly I ran in the London marathon a race that I have done a good few 15+ times due to getting a good for age time ( which guarantees you an entry) me & my dad had decided this was going to be our last London marathon for a bit & we would find a different race in April next year.This though would soon change as 3 days before the race my dad had a stomach bug which meant he was unable to run this years event which we were all gutted about & he had no choice but to defer it for next year so for a change it was just me running & my hubby, mom & dad watching which was a novelty so I knew I had to have a decent run!!
So all Buffed up in my new 2013 Blue Buff kit complete with Super cool Buff calf compression guards & in memory of the events at the Boston marathon I had asked Buff www.buffwear.co.uk for a USA Buff to run in.I was off from the good for age green start & my plan was to try and keep with Matt the 3.30 pacer but for some reason I lost him at the start :( ok I went to fast for the first mile but hey sometimes you really just have to run your own race.Im sure this year there was more crowd support & I really enjoyed the race & all the shouts for Go Buff girl!! Go.
I finished in a time of 3.39 & I was pleased with that.

I ran the Virgin London Marathon  in memory of the runners who got injured or lost there lives in the Boston Marathon

My next race was only last Saturday & it was the 8 hour Hellrider race , I know what you are thinking why is it called Hellrider  when I'm a runner.!! Well I was lucky enough to be asked by Buff if I was interested in a place at this event , the event is normally mainly a 8 hour duathlon but this year they incorporated a solo run or solo bike option into the event & of course I jumped at the chance & my dad aka (legendary Les) also entered, nothing is ever simple or straightforward in our house & Ben was actually working in London photographing a midnight bike ride on the Friday night so he had to drop us off before hand at Henley on Thames, so our new pop up tent was sprung into action & we nearly didn't make the race as our cooker gas bottle exploded & set our stove in flames , so no hot drinks for us & we are never using the cooker again.

We decided to have a walk around the 5 k a lap course before settling down for the night & I was pleased that we did as we found it was an off road hilly , up & down banks , through water course & past some lovely bluebell fields.

Next morning we were up bright & early ready for the race & we were both kitted out in our Buff kit.
The 1st lap was pretty hard as I think I may have gone a little fast & I decided to slow down as obviously you don't want to burn out quickly on a 8 hour race.
I really wanted to have a good race as Sarah from Buff was coming along to the event as her husbands band www.facebook.com/cardinalwino were going to be entertaining us on the night.
So I decided the best thing to do was to slow down relax & put my ipod on & get into a nice rhythm which is what I did for the next 6 hours, only stopping to grab a drink or a 9bar off my hubby at the end of the lap when I needed one.
Once again my hubby was a brilliant support crew and he was keeping an eye on me & telling me what position I was in each lap, I think it was about lap 9 when he told me I was in 2nd place overall not in the women in the overall race!!! I was chuffed, but now I was on a mission & I wanted to win overall.
So head down & I had the winner in my sight , I had noticed that he was starting to struggle up the hills & was walking the steep bits, so there was only one thing to do & I thought as long as I could keep running I could catch him, & that was what happened on the 10th lap I caught up with him and just went straight past him hoping that I hadn't gone to soon, luckily for me this worked & by lap 12 I was safe in 1st position just as I was coming into the finish I saw my dad who was coming to the end of his 9th lap, so we ran into together.
There was still time to get in another lap my( number 13 )& as I couldn't be caught I ran the last lap with my dad which was really enjoyable & by doing this I found out how famous my dad had got in this race & everyone was calling him the legendary Les. My Dad ran 10 laps and was a definite favourite with the female commentator , Well done Dad you did brilliant.
I highly recommend this race & the whole weekend was very enjoyable & it made a nice change to have a great band playing after the race, hopefully this event will be on again next year.

New Sponsor

I was so chuffed to have had a phone call from Sarah from Buff this week & for her & Henry from  www.sueme.com to ask me if i would like to be an ambassador for there Sueme products
if you don't know who they are please click on there website & like there Facebook page.
I will still be sponsored by Buff for my running clothing etc etc & Sueme products will be looking super cool with my jeans for before & after races.
My next blog will have full details about the great responsibly sourced sportswear company Sueme.