23:20: After some light refreshments, pictures and interviews at the BA lounge in the North Terminal, we make our way to the gate area to be coached out to the airfield close to the fire station for the start. Shane Ritchie has been warming us up with fun and laughter and jokes that the winners shall win flights to Manchester!
Heavy fog and building works resurfacing the runway, means
that a mile lap around the airfield is the only option for the charity event to
take place. Arriving outside and huddled in a large group we already start to
feel the chill of the early morning fog. Some staff are even brave enough to
wear shorts! Brrrhh... Not for me, I have my trusty running trousers on!
Laughing and joking amongst ourselves, we are distinguished
by blue tees for the GAL staff and white tees for the BA staff. All the fire service and airfield ops staff
have lined up in their vehicles to toot and cheer us on!
The atmosphere is very
exciting and we all start to feel rather nervous. We are advised to run close
to the green lights on the tarmac, which laps around the stands to make 1 mile.
Rather straight forward enough.
23:30: The Airfield Manager has the pleasure of firing the gun!
BANG!....A sea of white and blue runners sprint ahead towards the green lights
in the centre. Everyone is laughing and
hooting out loud and I can't help thinking how great this would look as a bird’s
eye view.
As the first bend approaches I start to see the real runners
settling into their pace and the slower group filtering back somewhat. I can
see a few BA girls on either side of me and some security guys up ahead. I am
not sure of my fastest mile pace, so I just hang out here for the time being
and enjoy the atmosphere.
After the first bend and as I approach the next, I realise
there are only a few of us in the lead and one of our security managers is
super fast, sprinting like his life depends on it! Blimey, I didn't realise
this would be taken so seriously, I thought this was just a ‘fun’ fundraiser. But I do love a bit of competition, so I
speed up my legs with all the energy I have left to catch up with him.
I glide past at ease and can hear his footsteps fade away as
I speed up some more for the last bend. I
can't see anyone else by my side and it all goes rather quiet. I come around the corner and I seem to make
the waiting staff jump as they didn't seem ready for anyone to come in just yet!
Claps and cheers are accompanied by someone shouting out: “Well
done! You came in first'. As I turn
around, within seconds I can see the second place runner coming up to finish. He tells me he tried all he could to keep up
to my pace, but found it impossible.
Third place is a girl from BA, then in
comes the fourth runner. Then a group comes in. Then trickles of pairs, and so
on, until everyone has finished. Some walking to catch their breath, others
sprinting with all their might. It is such a buzz to watch and see.
As the organizers try to locate who came first then second
place, I am found and they ask me to pose for the finish line again as they
weren't ready. I find this rather embarrassing but co-operate all the same. I
raise my arms to run through the tape with a winning smile and photo. My first
win - even if it was a fundraiser! My race time was 04:32.
An amazing experience was had by all and lots of money
donated to a good cause in the process. I
hope London Gatwick can do this charity event every year, and if we’re lucky
the great British weather may allow us to actually run on the actual runway
next time…
I later find out that myself and the first place British
Airways winner won a pair of tickets each to either St Lucia, Antigua or
Barbados from London Gatwick valid for one year! Wow! I did not expect that and I have never
won a prize before, how exciting!
In November 2012 I decided to take my close friend Helen
along with me to Barbados for a week. Helen ran five marathons in 2012 raising over
£3,000 for Prostate Cancer Research. I had
completed 12 races by November and two of those were Ultra events, so we both
enjoyed the well needed break. We still went running on holiday, myself every day,
usually on the beach barefoot...bliss.
British Airways and Gatwick Airport Ltd each donated £5,000
to Sport Relief and the total raised to date is £14,487.
I would like to thank London Gatwick Airport Ltd, British
Airways, Chris Kimber, Begonia Cahcaldora and Heather Griffiths for the ‘Run the
Runway’ Fundraiser.
To donate visit: http://donate.ba-flyingstart.com/funraiser/RunwayRun/