Team Dots take on The Great North Run

In the words of Thunderbirds, DOTs are Goooooooooooooooooooooo!!
GREAT NORTH RUN 2017 HERE WE COME!

The DOTs (Liz, Jan, Catharine, Jackie and Helen’s) first challenge was to get together to take a team photo!!!!! We knew that that the photo should really have been taken on a training walk, all kitted out in bras and hiking gear, showing our commitment and drive… so we took it in the pub one evening over a glass or two, and lots of chat!

We didn’t complete the entire Training Plan as a team, as the chance of getting all five of us together early on a Sunday morning was even harder than in the pub on a Friday! But we all committed to it and met in different configurations of the group depending on who was around when. We chatted away the miles, helped by the fact that Liz had been on a month long holiday to Australia (training along white sandy beaches) so the 7-miler went by in a flash as we heard all about it. The 8-miler was round town and the group wore their t-shirts and got plenty of support from beeping car horns, and the 10-miler was done the week before the main event and we were good to go! Sadly by this point poor Jackie had to withdraw with a knee problem which just wouldn’t recover so we were down to four.

Two cars set off from Dorchester packed to the gunnels with boots, bread, bananas, bacon, bedding and of course BRAS!! We also had company from two partners who were also doing the challenge, one running and one walking. Poor Mark (Mr. Liz) had to suffer lots of bra, glitter, pompom chat for the first two hours. 

We arrived at our Newcastle Uni Halls of Residence on Saturday afternoon... a huge step up from uni halls of old that’s for sure and perfect for us! Again (and there is a theme here) a Saturday evening trip to town to buy a saucepan for our carb-loading porridge race day breakfast (and bags of peas as we forgot ice packs!) ended up with us all in Rosie’s Bar, where we managed to maintain our discipline and resist the ‘Buy 9 pints get 1 free’ offer! Back to halls and a mac ‘n’ cheese dinner and a birthday cake for Catharine... then we did our Waltons impression – ‘night Liz, ‘night Jan, ‘night Catharine’ etc, etc! Newcastle centre isn’t the quietest of a Saturday night so Sunday morning didn’t see us all raring to go and fresh as daisies, but porridge, fruit and caffeine worked wonders and we donned our bras with pride and headed to the Start!

HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN FIT ON ONE DUAL CARRIAGEWAY!!!! What a scene, it was incredible, and the buzz was amazing – meeting all the other Walk the Walkers was just great, putting faces to names and meeting Sam and Elisabeth and we were off to our pink pen! A huge cheer went up which we assume was for Mo and the Red Arrows took our breath away…. and we were off!

The support from the locals and teams was just amazing – shouting our names and driving us on!! Catharine was incredible and got caught up with the runners and just carried on running, just like Forest Gump (but prettier and with fewer clothes on …. oh and less hair!!). Jan and her partner Paul set off at a pace, and Liz and Helen kept together, so all the Walk the Walkers had company and Sam and Elisabeth switched between groups to keep an eye and we could all spot each other with our brilliant bright yellow caps on! The runners were way ahead and we were with the fancy-dressers and the atmosphere was great… we were all doing it for all the right reasons and there was never the thought of not making it…. how could we not when we were being kept company by an inflatable dinosaur with hairy legs, or 2 unicorns?!

Dropping down the hill into South Shields seemed like a breath of fresh air, literally, as the wind got up and the temperature dropped, but still there was the support and encouragement, and all the way along the promenade – the runners with their medals who were walking back were great too, telling us we were nearly there (as did the guy at the 2-mile point!!).. for everyone to stay out for that long, and hang on in the wind for the walkers, was so kind and so heartwarming - it really did add to the feel of the event, and gave us all such a boost, as did the jelly baby handout!

We all met after the finish line for our ‘after’ picture and had so many different stories of our walk to share, but the overriding story was one of warmth and strength and support and a huge sense of pride … what an experience....... maybe we should have gone back to Rosie’s for the 10-pint offer…..??!!!

Inspired to join Walk the Walk's Great North Run team in 2018? Enter now!