Running the 2011 adidas Women’s 5K Challenge

In warm autumn sunshine in Hyde Park, London, Casey, Jackie and myself set about tackling the Hyde Park adidas Women’s 5K Challenge course under the gauze of a bright blue mosquito net.

Team Flagship was running for Malaria No More, the innovative charity committed to ending suffering and death caused by malaria. To date, we have raised nearly £750 and with it costing just £5 to buy, deliver and hang a net that will help protect two people from malaria, we’ve raised enough to provide at least 150 nets to those who are most at risk.

Having been labelled a ‘sporty’ individual by my colleagues, Jackie had assumed my enthusiasm extended to running distance courses. How wrong she was – I had never been on the treadmill in the gym, let alone around a 5k course outside. The prospect of running continually for over half an hour was incredibly daunting so I forced myself to get enthused straight away. It wasn’t until about a fortnight before the race itself when a switch suddenly flicked and I found myself bitten by the running bug. Probably not the appropriate metaphor to use in the circumstances really, but I really was loving every minute spent pounding the pavements of Putney after work.

The race day dawned and spurred on by nearly 20,000 other female runners around us, we ran the adidas Women’s 5k Challenge under a mosquito net in 38minutes. I enjoyed the experience of my first charitable run so much that twenty four hours later I was already signed up for Race for Life, and I am also taking part in the Bupa London 10000 next May. Once on the track, you never go back… Enough clichéd phrases – it was a fantastic achievement.

Many thanks to everyone who supported Flagship Consulting and Malaria No More.