On the 10th of March the Cambridge Boundary Run half marathon takes place, the race itself is 13.1 miles that takes the participants around the boundaries of Cambridge, covering roads, footpaths and trails. The Cambridge University Hare & Hounds Cross-country running club describe this race as 'challenging but fun and rewarding' and this year's race Sports Connections Foundation have someone running and raising money for us, Josh Clarke.
Before the race took place I managed to have a quick chat with Josh about his preparations:
Hi Josh, so you’ve kindly chosen to run the Cambridge Boundary Run half marathon for SCF, but before we get in to that why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself? Hi, I am a 19 year old student currently studying Engineering at Oxford University after being at school at Hinchingbrooke in Huntingdon and living in Godmanchester. I’ve always enjoyed extra curriculum activities in music, drama and sport and have more recently began running when I can. What is it that’s made you want to choose us as a charity to raise funds for? I was made aware of the charity last year through the amazing work of Harriet Foulkes and some close friends and quickly realised the incredible work you were doing. I have been lucky enough to have had various sporting outlets throughout my life both at school and outside and have really appreciated the positive impact they have had on me. Therefore I wanted to support a charity that uses sport to encourage opportunities for children who most need it. Being from the area also encouraged me further to get involved. Are you a frequent marathon runner or is this a new experience for you? This is my first half marathon and I have only previously run informally for myself up to around 10km or so with no race experience. Wow that's one incredible jump in terms of distance! How have the preparations gone for the race? I have been managing to fit in runs here and there throughout the weeks increasing the distance a bit so far, it has been a little tricky amongst quite a busy schedule but always enjoy getting out to escape from work and destress even if I come back very sweaty and tired. I’m sure I speak for everyone at Sports Connections Foundation when I say that we’re wishing you the best of luck Josh, I look forward to finding out how it all went for you! Thank you very much!
With race day having been and gone and some great pictures having been sent across (which you can see below) I had another chat with what I could only imagine was a man with very sore legs and feet!
Josh, my first question is going to have to be, how are your legs feeling today? Ahaha, quite achy and stairs are proving a bit difficult but slowly getting back to usual. What time did you manage to complete the course, were you happy with your time? I finished in 1:35:48 (according to my watch), just waiting for the official time. Very happy with the time especially as I hadn’t run this far before so had no real estimate of how long it would be. Has doing the Cambridge Boundary Run made you want to do anymore races or has this put you off for life? It has definitely got me wanting to do more and go further. I have already begun thinking about the potential of going on to do a full marathon maybe at a time of year when we don’t have yellow weather warnings of snow on the race day! I’ve definitely caught the bug. If someone, like me for example, has never done a half marathon before and thought it could be quite a fun thing to do, what advice would you give them? I would absolutely encourage you to go for it! It’s one of the most rewarding things especially when you can do it for such a great cause, it really gave me the best motivation to get through it and train even when it was raining and dark outside. You can easily take it at whatever pace you want to and everyone running it is super encouraging and easy going. Probably worth getting some training in before hand especially if you want to run it in a good time but that can just mean starting at a slow 2km run around your block and gradually building up over time at whatever pace you feel comfortable at! Well done on completing the race in such a good time Josh, it’s great to meet people like yourself who are willing to raise money on behalf of our Children’s charity, are we likely to see you at any of our future events? Thank you very much! Absolutely, it has really been such an honour running for this incredible charity and everyone has been so kind and supportive in helping me to run the half marathon. Being able to have such personal contact with the charity makes it so much more rewarding to raise money and awareness for you. I would love to be at more events going forward. Thanks again
I'm sure you'll all agree that not only has Josh achieved an incredible time for his first ever half marathon but is also a fantastic young man who's got a bright future ahead of him! Having people like Josh who are willing to help raise the profile of our children's charity as well as funds is such a blessing to us so once again a huge thank you to Josh for all of his efforts!
There is still time to donate to Josh's justgiving page, and if you've read this blog and feel motivated to take part in any upcoming sporting events, or if you've already signed yourself up to one, and you would also like to represent us please get in touch!