Easter Runday

I had a great day today, although it did not get off to the best start.  Murdoch has been a bit unwell and woke me up four times during the night needing to go out into the garden for a bottom explosion.  So I woke up tired and unrested, which never bodes well for fun times.  But I got up and took Murdoch for his morning walk.  Rainy.  Oh dear.  Given that the Easter Runday festivities were outdoorsie, this may put a dampener on things (see what I did there?).  But no! Determined not to slump into a grumpy, tired and damp mood, I popped my running gear on and headed to the Merry Harriers in Hambledon for the start of some giant fun times and not a drop of rain fell on us at all.

I arrived just as photos were being taken for the local paper.  I had a sudden attack of shy and hovered out of shot.  I hadn't met anyone before today except @Timato_, who I used to work with.  So I felt a little bit apprehensive and unsure whether to unveil my secret weapon.  But then I met Claire (@claz0r) and Stephanie (@gutnahofski) and they were both so warm and welcoming that I handed my bunny ears over to Stephanie and got my Egg on.  That's right, I have an egg costume.  I don't have any pictures of me wearing it today, but here is its original outing, when my lovely friend Pam and I ran a 10k race in costume.

Which came first?

The Egg was a good move, something of an ice breaker.  And by this point I had also met @leestuartevans and @Shackleford_LB who were both lovely, so I already had a spring in my step.  We headed out for a run along the infamous Greensand Way, marked out in traditional Hash style with flour markers - the best ones to look out for were the ones that were egg shaped, signalling that there were chocolate eggs to be found.  It wasn't a fast run, there was plenty of stopping, walking and chatting, but it's the most fun I've had while running for ages.  We did a loop and then it was into the pub for more chatter, some food and the raffle, which was a resounding success.

I've said it before, but I think that what these guys are doing is fantastic.  They are planning to run 108 miles, the entire length of the Greensand Way.  They are going to do it all over the course of one long weekend, camping along the route. Top marks for crazy, guys.  

Personally, I have trained for and run three marathons.  But I didn't do them three days in a row.  I've done Trailwalker, a non-stop walk over the South Downs Way from Petersfield to Brighton.  But that's a mere 100k, done in around 30 hours, not 108 miles.  I tell you these things not to blow my own trumpet (although, seriously, how awesome am I?!), but to establish my abundant credentials for identifying crazy when I see it.  And these guys are the real deal.  They are putting their heart and soul into the training and are writing entertaining blog posts about it all.  I highly recommend that you read their blog, which can be found here.  And if you like what you read, I also recommend that you visit their fundraising page found here and give them as much of your hard earned wedge as you can spare.  Because they're not just doing this for funsies (although they do appear to be enjoying it all enormously).  They are doing it to raise funds for Claire's trip to Tanzania.  And this is where it really hits me where I live.  

My mum has been involved in GirlGuiding UK since she was a girl.  She is a Queen's Guide.  She was my Brown Owl when I was a Brownie and she is still involved in the running of that Brownie pack today.  Over the course of her long Guiding "career", my mum has been (among many other things that I've probably forgotten) a pack holiday advisor, a Rangers leader and she is currently the Haslemere District Commissioner.  She has also led groups of girls on international trips to places such as Malaysia, India and most recently, Costa Rica.  She has worked on any number of community projects in these places.  She is wonderful, I think that anyone that does this sort of thing is absolutely wonderful and deserving of as much support as you can spare.

This blog post has gone on a bit longer than I intended, and may come across a little geeky fangirl in places, but it is what it is.

Happy Easter Runday, everyone xx