Great North Run (GNR) 2005
On 18th September 2005, Anne Donaldson was amongst the 46,000 runners who participated in the 25th Great North Run. Anne ran the half-marathon (13.1 miles) from Newcastle to Gateshead in 2hrs 57 mins 02 secs and raised over £1300 for the PMI charity.
“Spurred on by a friend who was doing a charity walk in memory of her mum, signing up for the GNR seemed to a good idea in February, but by the time I got confirmation of my place and had to start training on return from holiday in March, it was a different story.
Having been someone whose previous running experience was as far as the nearest bus-stop, the thought of anything further was daunting. Training was hard, and pounding the streets of South London not the best training ground, but at least it was nice and light in the mornings and helped set me up for the day. Finally telling friends and family in order to elicit sponsor money was an additional spur, although I’m sure most of those who sponsored me thought I was completely mad, given my past running history!!
The day of the race came round all too soon, and I joined the start line with some trepidation. Having to stand round for a couple of hours meant I got to know some of other runners and discover there was a real mixture of experience, including a lot of first-timers like myself. It took me 25 minutes to get through the start-line, by which time the winner of the men’s race was half-way round the course! From my training, I had planned to do a combination of run-walk-run, but it was hotter than I had anticipated and I was forced to walk more than run. My main objective of course was to complete the course in under 3 hours if possible and was thrilled to find out that I had achieved this, helped along the way by both my fellow runners, the crowds who lined the whole route and copious bottles of water.
At the end, I was extremely tired but really proud of myself for having managed to do the run and to raise over £1,300 for PMI. Having been involved with the charity since its inception, it was nice to be able to do something positive to raise its profile and raise some money at the same time.”
At the Prostate Matters International (PMI) meeting held on 13 November 2005, the Trustees thanked Anne for her outstanding fundraising effort and asked her to convey PMI’s heartiest thanks to her friends and colleagues who had sponsored her.
Are you considering raising funds for the PMI charity? If so, please click here.
For details of the Great North Run, please click GNR.…