I entered my first virtual running event, the Run Mummy Run (RMR) ‘She Cracked it!’ 10k before my knee injury stopped me running. As I didn’t want to miss out on the slightly unusual looking medal (it can also be used as a bottle opener), I decided to see how quickly I could walk the 10k distance.

On October 2^nd the weather was gorgeous. Blue skies, sunshine and a gentle breeze. I decided to take a break from my studies, and headed out for a stroll in Sutton Park. I was wearing my Garmin as I wanted to see how long it took me to walk to the entrance of the park. I quickly discovered that I was walking at a pace of around 10 minutes/kilometre. After 5k my right knee was pain free, and as I didn’t fancy rushing back to my studies, I decided to walk another 5k.

I’m really going to miss Sutton Park when I move 🙁

I set myself the target of completing each kilometre in less than 10 minutes. I ignored how thirsty I was feeling and successfully “power” walked my way past two ice-cream vans and headed back towards the tennis club with its comfortable chairs and drinks machine. Unfortunately, when I reached the tennis club I realised that I’d somehow managed to completely underestimate how far I still needed to walk #muppet

After what felt like an eternity (five minutes later) I’d finally completed my 10k walk.

The result of my efforts was the slowest 10k ‘race’ I’ve ever completed. Although my walking pace felt slow, I had a benchmark to compare future 10k walks against. I actually found walking 10k more difficult than running 10k. Wearing jeans probably didn’t help. The chafing was quite painful, next time I’ll wear more sensible trousers.

All virtual runs require the runner (or in my case walker) to prove they have successfully completed the chosen distance before the closing date for each race. Simple! I tweeted evidence of my 10k walk and race number to Virtual Runner.

My not so speedy time was quickly added to the relevant results table. All I had to do now was sit back, relax and wait for my medal to arrive in the post. Two weeks after submitting my time I was still waiting. I found loads of photographs of people wearing their medals. My bottle opener medal had gone AWOL in the post. Luckily the kind people at Virtual Runner were able to send me a replacement.

Finally, I think it’s worth highlighting that virtual running isn’t just about the cheap entry fees, the flexibility to race at a location and time that suits the runner, and the amazing medals. The series of RMR ‘She Cracked it’ October virtual races raised a large amount of money for three amazing charities.

Thanks Susan 🙂

Race Ratings:

• Cost: £12.00
• Course: Amazing as I got to select my own route!
• Medal: Awesome (can also be used as a bottle opener)
• Goody Bag: N/A