Thank you, thank you!

To everyone who got me into running, or helped me along the way; thank you!

I could write a lot right now but I want to keep this brief.  Today was a great day and need to write something!

I am never going to win any prizes from running.  There are many people out there much faster than me and can run much further.  So I don’t expect too much from this.  I run because I enjoy it, and I’ve met some great people as well. 

So I don’t have any goals aside from the ones I set for myself.  The ones where I get better the more I try.

So today I set out for a half marathon with my ultimate goal (in my mind) of 1 hour and 45 minutes.  My previous best was 1h46m30s and at the time it felt like the max I could do.  I was feeling good today, and I thought I could shave off 1.5 minutes from my previous best.  It was a tall order, but I thought if all the stars aligned I could do it.

Well the stars did align… and I beat my personal best by over 4 minutes!!!  I’m not sure what my official time is but my watch said 1h42m22s!! 

I only started running just over 3 years ago and the thought of doing a half-marathon was crazy to me.  Well today was my 8th!  And I didn’t think I could ever run one faster than 5 minutes a kilometre (about the 1h45min mark).  Well here I am going faster than what my mind thought possible!  It feels amazing!

I want to thank people and I know I will miss people when I do this, because there are so many, but there are a few specific people I want to thank:

Steph for getting me to enter a 10k race in the first place and making me realizing I could do it!  And then for overcoming her own obstacles to show me what’s possible.

Mark for making me just do it and get out there.  Making it seem like it wasn’t a big deal; just to get out and see what happens.  Also that it is never too cold to wear shorts (well, maybe -20C…).

Meghan for keeping me going when I wouldn’t do it on my own.  And just being an inspiring person.

To my fellow Hemsworth’s who made me realize that running can be fun (actually a lot more fun) in a group.

To the members of the London Trail Running group and London Pacers (and Soiled Sport, and MEC and, and, and) for always being up for an adventure.

Thank you! I wouldn’t have done it without you!