Page 32 - QARANC Vol 14 No 11 2015

30 QARANC THE GAZETTE
The Durham Coast 1/2 Marathon, 08 June 2015
I was asked to volunteer for the Durham Coast Half Marathon one Tuesday evening. Since I love running, I thought it would give me some good practice for the Great North Run and be a good social event. Little did I know what I let myself in for! Initially, we were going to be tabbing and after long discussions it was decided that we should run it instead, but in 201 Fd Hospital t-shirts in order to promote the unit at the local event.
I turned up on Sunday morning to meet Capt Hannaford and Pte Sheppard at Nose Point, near Seaham. It was a beautiful morning and we decided to grab something to eat to keep our energy levels up. This was an event in itself, travelling in Pte Sheppard’s elaborate and unusual brightly yellow coloured Scooby Doo like vehicle.
At the start line back at Nose Point, we were all pumped up and ready to go, standing and having a conversation when without warning the horn sounded and we were off! The atmosphere was fantastic but I remember thinking, this is going to be a long hard 2-hour race. After the first couple of mile the group broke up and dispersed. I met some interesting people along the way from paramedics to cross country runners and others who were running for charities. It was amazing the amount of people who read our t-shirts and wanted to hear more about 201 Field Hospital! The first hour went quite quick and before I knew it I’d done 6 miles and thought it wasn’t too bad. Not knowing that I hadn’t even reached the hard bit yet!
The next hour was the longest, I emerged at the top of a headland and
201 (Northern) Field Hospital - OPERATION FORTIFY
looked down to see endless amounts of steps that seemed to go on and on. To make matters worse, this was the first of 4! Still, even though it was quite hot and hard work, everyone was really encouraging each other and the views were amazing. There was an exception however because one runner decided to cheat by climbing down the side of the cliff to miss the stairs with everyone
booing him! Suffice it to say, I think he made life harder for himself.
I got to the last half a mile and I could see Crimdon Dene, I thought at last the end is insight, the rest is easy! Until I came across more stairs... and at this point my legs had nothing left in them but I tagged along with another runner and finally seen the finishing line. It was a fantastic feeling, Pte Sheppard and Capt McKenna, his wife and loyal dog were cheering for all of us. Pte Sheppard looked like she hadn’t broken a sweat!
Not long after the rest of the group arrived and we all congratulated each other. Although this half marathon was pretty hard, it was a great experience and I’d encourage anyone to do this. It was a good chance to get to know my colleagues from the unit and it’s a great achievement for me because it was my first half marathon event.
Pte Alexander Cairns, Queen Alexandra’s Army Nursing Corps