Eastleigh 10km

With so many people from B&Q’s head office taking part in this event, it was a great opportunity to catch up with people – so much so that at the beginning of the race I was talking to some of my colleagues, whilst at the start line they were calling out for me for a photocall! Sorry about that! Fortunately, they managed to grab me at the finish line, which is where I was really able to relax and catch up with everyone. Thanks to everyone who turned out to support me and especially to those who formed a large team of people running to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis.

All in all this was an excellent weekend for both of my chosen charities. Those who weren’t running were busy collecting at B&Q for our first CF collection weekend. Probably not recommended by fitness instructors out there but I spent all day before the race on Saturday, on my feet in Farnborough store helping to collect over £300 over the two days, which really made me appreciate the hardwork that volounteers do for charity just by standing in cold doorways for hours on end. After the race on Sunday, I also popped into Fratton in Portsmouth to lend my support to the collections going on there for an hour, where, over the course of the two days, CF Kids of Portsmouth managed to raise over £1,100 from the Fratton and Havant stores alone - which is fantastic.

With so many stores we don’t have final figures yet for the amount raised on behalf of the CF Trust for this weekend but early indications show it could be in the region of £15k. It would be great to improve on this figure for the next collection weekend on 16th and 17th June – so if you can spare an hour or two during this weekend please email me at bryce@cfchallenge.com – I’d be delighted to hear from you.

The Eastleigh race itself was lots of fun. The weather was kind even if it was a little blustery but it was wonderful to be surrounded and supported by so many that I have worked with during my time with B&Q. I want to give a special mention here to Sam Glover who I worked with during my time with B&Q’s internet team - diy.com. Sam is a real hero and has been a real inspiration to me. Like me, her life too has been changed by CF and as a result, last year, despite her fear of heights, she jumped out of a plane to raise money for the CF Trust. She was at this race and despite a sever knee injury completed it to raise yet more funds for the Trust. Her determination has never failed to impress me. Sam, if you are reading this, we never got the opportunity to catch up at the run – but keep up the great work. Your efforts are an inspiration to me and, I am sure, many others as well.

I took this run at a steady pace mainly because it was lovely to get the opportunity to run with so many people I knew and I wanted to make the most of it. The atmosphere was really great and if you don’t believe me check out the Runners World website who also gives this run a great write up - for anyone thinking of doing it next year. Of course I didn’t realise this at the time but the best news is the course is generally flat and fast! See the blog for South Africa!

At the end of the race I had the pleasure of meeting with Gail Emms - Olympic Badminton player who is part of Team B&Q – who is heading for the Bejing Olympics in 2008. Good luck for your up and coming competitions this year and your seedings leading up to the Olympics – I’ll be watching your progress with interest.

Anyway, I rattled on for long enough – they say a picture paints a thousand words – having seen some of those taken from this event I can see what they mean – but check them out yourself!

www.prosportphotos.com/running/2007/eastleigh-10k/index.htm