Shell 4 Villages Half Marathon

This post isn't about the landscape, light or for that matter about photography at all. This post is about my eldest daughter Kate who ran in the Shell 4 Villages Half Marathon last Sunday. Running a half marathon may not seem much of a feat to many people but it's something I have never done and it's something Kate had never done either - before last week. Kate is not a runner. At least, she wasn't before she made the decision in October to run in this annual race. I'm not exactly sure what initially prompted the decision to run but it was quickly followed by the idea to run in aid of Cancer Research in memory of her Grandmother (my Mum) who died of cancer in September.

Kate trained consistantly, even through the awful December, running in snow and ice. Unfortunately she picked up a strain about three weeks before the race and was unable to train after that. Consequently, come the day of the half marathon, the furthest Kate had run was 8 miles.

The 4 Villages is not the easiest race of it's type being a fairly hilly course and, of course, run at a time of year when the weather is often not good. On Sunday, however, the conditions were about as good as you could possibly hope for.

Kate finished the run in a really impressive time of 1 hr 55 mins and raised around £400 for cancer research. At the finish line, she was totally shattered and had to be held up. She was utterly determined to finish and I could not be more proud of her. I also know her Grandmother would be very, very proud of her too. I am also very grateful to our friend and neighbour L (1566 above) who ran with and encouraged Kate all the way.