We did it!

After months of training, fundraising, tweeting, blogging and more training, Team Bangs on the Run finally pounded the streets of Paris on Sunday. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my certificate to prove it. 

My time: 2 hours 3 minutes 21 seconds

I was totally stunned when I found out my official time. As I said before, I was aiming to get round a) in one piece and b) in 2 hours 30 mins or less, so it's safe to say I am chuffed with my time and the fact that I ran the whole way round. Before Sunday, I'd never run that far without stopping for a drink/stretch/walk/pee/cry, and I am immensely proud of my body for being able to carry me that far without needing to do any of that. A testament to training, rest days, eating and drinking properly beforehand. 

The race was amazing. But that wasn't the case the whole way through. Here are the highs and lows (I'll update with pictures as soon as I can):

Highs:

• Bumping into Alicia, one of my best friends from secondary school as I entered the Parc Floral. We hadn't seen each other in years and there she was! 
• The beautiful (if chilly) weather.
• The amazing crowds (especially the adorable kids)
• Spotting Alicia's boyfriend Bruce at about 8km and running with him until...
• ...THE FIREMEN. FRENCH FIREMEN. FYI, this is where the hot firemen cliché comes from.
• The entertainment around the course - brass bands, rock bands, bongo players, ABBA tribute bands, drunks...
• Being cheered on by Jon and Michael (our amazing Team Bangs cheerleaders) at 16km - that really kept me going.
• Realising I was going to run the whole freaking way!
• The atmosphere of the final 500m.
• Crossing the finish line, bursting into tears and being reunited with some of the Team Bangs girls.

Lows:

• Not having time to go to the toilet before the race (6 portaloos? Seriously?!).
• The bottleneck for the first few kilometres.
• Trying not to break my neck running past the rehydration stations - orange peel and bottle tops everywhere.
• The cobbles.
• The hill at 9km.
• The even bigger hill at 17km - that one kept on climbing to the 18km mark. Not cool, Paris.
• Sticky tarmac - a result of hundreds of litres of Powerade being chucked away. 
• Getting my miles and kilometres muddled up (for some reason I thought I was running 20.1km, not 21km) and having to dig deep to get that final kilometre out of my legs.
• Not running with any of the Team Bangs girls.

Now, I'm going to try not to get too emotional (I can't promise anything, I still get a bit teary when I think about the race), but I want to say a huge THANK YOU to some amazing people:

All of you fantastic people who sponsored Team Bangs on the Run: We ran for you, for the money you'd so kindly donated to Refuge. Thanks to you, we've raised over £6,000, which will help women and children escaping domestic violence in so many ways. 

Muireann (Bangs and a Bun): Our fearless leader, hero and inspiration. It's because of you that any of this happened. Thank you for your support, encouragement and kick-ass attitude, and congratulations on knocking 25 minutes off your previous half marathon PB!

Team Bangs on the Run: What an incredible group of women. Without you, I wouldn't have made it through my training and to Paris. Love you!

Gemma (Jungle GG): I only signed up because I thought you were joking, but thank you so much for making me do it.

Nike and Shock Absorber: Thank you for the awesome t-shirts, printing costs and amazing sports bra - my tatas are forever grateful!

Check out Bangs' Team Bangs in Paris video to meet some of the team and see how we got on. Also, there's still time to donate on our JustGiving page for Refuge, so if the urge to donate takes you, don't fight it. 

PS: Sorry this post is late, I'm still having laptop woe. 

Run Sweeney Run: £3,000!

A quick Team Bangs on the Run update for you: We're at £3,000!

To everyone who has donated so far - THANK YOU! It means so much to us, and more importantly, it means so much to the people who are helped by Refuge.

If you haven't yet sponsored us - please drop by our JustGiving page and give anything you can, even if it's just a couple of pounds. We're all training so hard, and reaching that target for Refuge would just be incredible. If you need a few more reasons to sponsor us, take a look at where your money goes.

Thank you again, you are FABULOUS.

Janathon: Day 5

I RAN! As you may be able to tell, I'm a little excited by it. I was only out of action for 4 days and I couldn't wait to get back on the road. I guess the running bug has finally bitten!

The 5am alarm call (I snooze for half an hour) did make me die a little inside - I hadn't woken up that early since before Christmas. But after a few seconds of poking myself in the belly (I find a little self-bullying comes in handy at times like this), I was up, changed and out. Because the foot's still not 100% better, I took it slowly, but managed my usual 5.23km route without any more pain. I'm going to try to extend that to 7km tomorrow morning, so I feel a little more prepared for this weekend's long run.

I wanted to share something I found in this month's Runner's World magazine. They interviewed Stefaan Engels, the mentalist who's running 365 marathons in a year. He said:

"I run just like Joe Average goes to work on Monday morning - whether I feel like it or not."

That's really stuck with me, and I think it's a great way to look at training, especially for an event. I'm really bad with self-discipline, and I reckon I need to start looking at my Paris half marathon training as something that I don't have a choice in. I go to work even when I don't feel like it (how often do we ever really feel like going to work?!), and it has to be that way with the training too. There's a half marathon to run at the end of all this!

While I've got you here, I want to say a massive THANK YOU to those of you who have sponsored Team Bangs on the Run. We're all training hard, and your donations really do keep us going, and will make us go faster! If you haven't sponsored us yet, and have a couple of pounds spare (check the back of the sofa) to give to Refuge, you can do your thing on our JustGiving page. Anything you can give really will make a difference - just take a look a where your money goes. 

Why sponsor us?

So now you know all about Team Bangs on the Run and Refuge, the fantastic charity we're supporting. But perhaps you'd like to know exactly where your money might go before you donate?

£10 could allow a woman to buy her child essential materials for school – many women arrive at Refuge with nothing but the clothes they are wearing and do not have the means to buy the things they need.
£50 could fund a session of play therapy for a group of four children, helping them to overcome the trauma of witnessing or experiencing violence.

£75 could fund a local support group session for women who have experienced domestic violence.

£200 could enable a Refuge Advocate to meet and to discuss and plan the escape or rescue of a woman identified as being at high risk of homicide or serious injury.

£500 could support a woman through a trial, helping her to give evidence against her abuser and keeping her and her children safe through the process. Advocates provide intensive support from the point of her partner’s arrest through to sentencing and beyond.

£5,000 could ensure that twenty prosecutions for offences relating to domestic violence take place which might otherwise have been dismissed, owing to lack of evidence or witnesses.

Refuge support 1,500 women a day in their refuges and community outreach schemes across the country. If you'd like to donate to Team Bangs on the Run for Refuge, drop by our JustGiving page. And if you are kind enough to sponsor us, don't forget to leave a comment in the box below or leave your twitter name on the JustGiving page so we can give you some love!

A massive THANK YOU to those of you who have already donated!

Run Sweeney Run: The Challenge

Last month, my dear friend and fitness buddy GG launched this across the Twittersphere at me:

Obviously, I assumed she was drunk (she's Scottish and it was 6pm on a Saturday):

And then:

I took this as a promise that she'd buy me Louboutins if I agreed to do it (you see how I got there, right?), and I'd be stupid to turn that deal down - I was in. 

As it happens, GG wasn't drunk, and I'd just signed up to run the Semi Marathon de Paris - that's the Paris Half Marathon to you and me. 

Since then, 16 other amazing women have signed up to be part of Team Bangs on the Run, headed by the fabulous Bangs and a Bun. We're running for Refuge, an incredible charity who provide emergency accommodation and support for women and children experiencing domestic violence. 


Now, dear strangers/friends/family, this is where you come in. The lovely Muireann (aka Bangs) clearly has a lot of faith in us all if the fundraising target she's set us is anything to go by, and we'll need your help to smash it. Please take a minute to visit Team Bangs on the Run's JustGiving page and donate anything you can. And if you have been kind enough to donate, don't forget to drop me a comment so I can let the world know how fabulous you are!


If you haven't already, you can meet Team Bangs on the Run and our fearless leader here.