The race is exactly a month today!

After a bit of a glutenous, lazy or poorly Christmas for most of us, getting back into the swing of training was particularly tough.

However after a few good runs, storming 6 miles and 7.5 miles, we are back on track!

Several runners in the group are well ahead of the game training up to 10 miles already!

Fundraising is all a go-go now with more and more fundraisers with online pages. Please donate online now to help us achieve our goals: https://www.justgiving.com/account/teams/BHTHalfMarathon 

 

Team 10K run gets us fired up!

After a not-so-glamorous 5 mile run a couple of weeks ago, where we were nearly blown off the seafront with wind speeds of up to 40 knots, yesterday's 10K run was a great success.

We started our run from the Dyke Road Park cafe "Tea Chalet", and headed up Dyke Road to the top (an uphill start!). We continued our run across the fields towards and past the windmill and then looped back to Dyke Road. This cross country stint was good fun but as it was very muddy causing one slip up and slowed us down considerably! We then headed downhill along Woodland Drive towards Hove Park where we joined the Sunday morning strollers on the footpath around the park. The last stint took us up Old Shoreham Road back towards Dyke Road, and then back to the cafe.

I'd like to say a massive thank-you to the fantastic cafe staff at "Tea Chalet", who gave us all cups of water as we made it to the finish and didn't seem too perplexed when we all laid down on the pavement outside to stretch our glutes!!

Milestone: HALF WAY!

Team BHT get ready, set and go!

On Sunday 14 October at 9:30AM Team BHT met at Brighton Marina and set off to run our first 5K together. We were a mix of first timers and keen runners but together everyone did brilliantly, and all finished under 40 minutes!

We were fortunate to be joined by Professional Trainer Lee Parnell who has kindly agreed to help Team BHT with our training by offering us free fitness and nutrition advice. Lee lead us in some warm up activities before we set off at individual paces.

We were incredibly lucky with the weather as the sun shone down on us all morning. I felt very happy to be living in Brighton and able to run along by the sea. Such a great view!

My Running

I feel really sorry for the people in the first floor Central Services office. Who wouldn't?  They have Andy sitting right next door! Of course I am just joshing with you. Sorry Andy, had to throw that in there. All part of being your PA (aka Personal Annoyance).

In all honesty, I do feel sorry for them. Especially these last 3 months because they have had to listen to me go on, and on, AND ON. First they had to put up with daily updates on how my non-smoking was going along with the all-important stats from my quit smoking app. I’m surprised it was only Ellie that resorted to headphones.

To add to their pain, and thanks to Liz, I decided to sign up to do the Brighton Half Marathon to raise money for BHT. So no sooner had their ears stopped bleeding from the relentless “I’m still not smoking” self-assurances coming from my desk, the verbal diarrhoea quickly became all about running. Training schedules, pace, stride, hills, the sea wind, my running app, my Dad joining me on his bike, the best music playlists for running. Of course they were dying to hear all the details regularly, no?

I definitely owe them all dinner, because not only do they tolerate all of this on a daily basis they support me every step along the way. It has touched me more than they probably realise. I’ve found fellow running buddies and even a running sensei (Mr Miyagi) who has given up their time to help me progress so much quicker than I had ever imagined. These are the people I share the best part of my week with and they have been both my motivation and inspiration. It will be their faces I’ll be looking for when I cross that finishing line in February. Bring it on!

By Anna Thompson, Personal Assistant to Andy Winter, Chief Executive of BHT

Running in all it's glory...

From people sniggering, tooting and staring to the shouting of “Run Forrest Run” – this all part of running in this city!  

When you really don’t want to go for your training run, it’s the last thing that you need.  I recently returned a taunt by asking the person to join me in my run, only to see a rather confused face staring back at me, confused that I am a person, not just a runner!  Yet twice a week I still go out running, sometimes even in the rain, because nothing feels better than the freedom of it and if you put in your headphones, you can ignore the witty comments that come your way.  

However on the 17^th February when us runners take part in the Brighton half marathon we’ll need the shouting, the whistles and even the funny jibes to help get us through the 13.1 miles, so give us your best shot people!!!!  

By Natalie Parnell, Training Administer at BHT Training.