Keep Your Friends Close, Your Running Kit Closer
Ten weeks of dedicated half-marathon training. Tick. Feeling completely prepared. Tick. Youthful enthusiasm in abundance. Tick. Travel up to the event the day before. Tick.
Everything seems rosy. You reach your final destination by coach and claim your bag containing all your kit from the baggage hold. But hang on, that’s not your bag! Same brand, the same style of backpack, and the same color, but not the same contents. Someone has taken your bag at an earlier stop. Big cross!
A lesson in disappointment
This was my first, rather disappointing experience of a mass participation race many years ago. I had traveled by coach to Newcastle to take part in the Great North Run.
This famous 13-miler was to be my running highlight of the year. I was in the early phase of my running life and excited at the prospect of the challenge ahead.
So, imagine my disappointment at discovering that my bag with all my running gear had not arrived at Newcastle with me. In truth, disappointment only crept in after the initial disbelief. I think I checked my bag several times, convinced this can’t be happening. However, each view confirmed a bag packed with women’s clothing.
