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 The London 10k Race is held in July each year and enables runners to enjoy running through some of the most famous parts of London (including the Embankment, Trafalgar Square and past the Houses of Parliament) on roads closed to traffic in order to raise funds for their favourite Charity.
When my husband, daughter and I attended the London 10K in 2009 to support the CLT runners the event was truly inspiring. My daughter and husband both said they might like to consider running in 2010. So what actually happened?????????
After a certain amount of “Should I – Shouldn’t I” we were able to have a team of 10 runners at the 2010 event including both our daughters (Elly and Nikki) plus respective boyfriends (Graeme and Kev) and other friends (Lizzie, Rachel, and Lilian) two speech therapists from Derbyshire (Sarah and Kate) and Len Hynds grand daughter (Louise) who is a serious runner and had competed the year before.
 We had learnt from the previous year how to organise ourselves and stayed near to Trafalgar Square so that our hotel was available for showers after the race (I just hope the hotel wasn’t metering the water!).
We gathered in Trafalgar Square at 8.00 am and hoped the temperature would not climb too high. As one would expect there were the usual questions about how they could possibly have agreed to run 10K but we were there to support and encourage. As last year the atmosphere was so friendly and the weather was very kind.
We had improved the T shirts by putting a logo on the back as well which was a great help with recognition and profile raising for the Charity. We had also joined Just Giving so that donors could support the runners via the Internet. This was very successful and resulted in funds coming in from as far away as Athens!
 There were 25,000 runners supporting Charities large and small. The first runner to go through Trafalgar Square was an expert who had been invited to set off the race. He sprinted past us at an incredible speed and, if anything, the motorcycle escort seemed to be getting in his way! There were runners dressed as zebras, chickens, deep sea divers and very overweight male ballet dancers complete with pink tutus! Our runners looked very smart and were all determined to achieve a good time as well as raising funds.
We moved down to the Embankment to see them run under one of the bridges and I was able to talk about the Charity again on one of the mobile microphones. From there it was back to Trafalgar Square to meet the runners again. They were tired but clearly exhilarated by what they had achieved. The Speech Therapists were quick to point out that there are a lot more hills in Derbyshire where they had been training! We were able to take lots of photos including the medals that had been handed out and we all enjoyed a refreshing drink to celebrate.
 So do you know anyone who would enjoy taking part? It is an unforgettable experience and we are looking for 2011 runners already.
Race Website
www.thebritish10klondon.co.uk
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