Fell ’em Doon, 22nd January 2023

The Fell Em Doon Festive 5K takes place in December in the run up to Christmas. Some of our original C25K runners plus running mates had identified the race as an ideal first competitive run in a Claremont vest as it is advertised as “flat”. It was also a chance to have a Christmas night out. Unfortunately December 11 was the weekend of the big freeze so the race was postponed. Needless to say our night out went ahead anyway! The event was rescheduled for January 22 but unfortunately Shilpa, Elizabeth and Lois could no longer take part. The weather was only slightly better than December and there were a lot of icy patches on the course which meant times were slower than they could have been.

Janet Palmer led the way on the 2 lap course and her time of 33.40 illustrates the challenging conditions. Sarah Collins was next, closely followed by Mary. I had run with Kim who was still suffering from a nasty virus – she hadn’t been able to run at all that week – so she did really well to complete the course. Elaine Wharton, who is unable to run at the moment, was also there to cheer us all home at the finish. With her support (and my encouragement unfairly described as shouting by some) Kim sprinted to the finish just ahead of me. Sarah and Kim were delighted to get their first ever race T-shirts, medals and goodie bags – the first of many I’m sure. Their next challenge is to get up to 10K + and complete the Pier to Pier in May.

Thanks to Ashington Hirst for a very well organised event. There was a lovely cake stall too which raised £300 for charity.