Quite apart from signing up to do a 10k when you’re not a natural runner (which is a bad idea all of its own), a really really bad idea is to pass your race number to a friend. Who is a bloke. And rather good.
I’d said I’d do the London 10k in an hour, which looked achievable. I’d been training reasonably well, and while I’d found it a struggle, I was quite hopeful. And then my feet started hurting when I ran. I assume I’ve not been stretching properly, but reading some of the horror stories on line, I cut the running straight away, then started building back up, very very slowly, and very very carefully. The 10k was out of the window.
It seemed a complete waste to not use my face entry, so my friend offered to use the number instead. Rather than waste the entry fees, I handed over the pack that arrived, and waited to congratulate my friend on completing the race.
So I wasn’t expecting the rather terse email I got the day after the race. “Can you explain why a man ran with your number? He came 8th”. Ooops? OK, a fit and healthy 20something being the 8th over 30s Woman isn’t that surprising, but for some reason it just never occurred to us. I toyed with the idea of claiming to be a really bad transgender runner, but knew it was better to come out with the truth. And then grovel. Lots.
Thank god the organiser guy had a sense of humour, and just ticked me off. But somehow, I can’t see me entering again.