Tales of a lowly event director

When you're still tucking into your porridge, deciding which are your fastest socks, slathering yourself in muscle rub and visuallising that shiny new PB I'm already in the park trying to separate the cones which all seem to be busy mating in the back of my car and untangling the funnel rope (I'm sure we coiled that up carefully last weekend!?!)

I'm the event director of the beautiful Bradford parkrun which is held in Lister Park.

I'm also living proof that anyone can run, once I got over the thought of car drivers so transfixed by the size of my spandex covered backside jiggling about I actually found I enjoyed it!

I find its the only time I can mentally 'relax' as I shut out the world and all worries and just concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other without tripping over my own feet.

The first ten minutes or so are hard, I turn an amazing and rarely seen shade of puce; my eyeballs literally feel like they are rattling in their sockets and I puff and pant like a sexually frustrated hippo, but after a while I find a breathing rhythm, the muscles loosen and I relax into a pace.

I'll always be slow which used to bother me but it doesn't so much now, I'm usually at the back of most races but I still do them. I would probably never have considered entering races at all if it wasn't for the support of my amazing team mates in Eccleshill Road Runners; I always get the feeling that we're all in it together, no matter how spread out we all are amongst the mud splattered participants.

I also used to avoid hills if at all possible which isn't easy in Bradford! If a hill did manage to creep up on me I put my head down and refused to acknowledge its existance! Its a well known fact that if you can't see the hill, it can't see you and therefore it doesn't exist, but joining the running club which seems to gravitate towards every hill in Bradford and run up and down it several times just in case you didn't suffer enough the first time has forced me to change my habits. I also learned a valuable lesson.... If Mick Hogan tells you it's flat - better pack your crampons!

So look out for me at Bradford parkrun or at the Yorkshire vets races, I'll be the one at the back!

... Linda xx