I would like to thank you all for your support and encouragement during my preparation for, and competing in the World Championships, which took place in the city of Izmir in Turkey, from 22-29 September. I represented Great Britain in the Marathon.
It was an AMAZING experience, and I learnt so much about other cultures and countries.
What I enjoyed most was the way all the athletes, no matter which country they represented or how they had performed, warmly congratulated each other and encouraged each other to do well.
I have never before experienced such true sportsmanship, and that was by far the highlight for me!
The race itself was completely different to any I'd ever run before. It was very hot, and windy, as we ran partly along the Izmir beachfront. There were km boards after only every 5km (unlike in SA!), with water every 5km (supplied by ourselves). Problems with identifying the correct bottle for each athlete led to me missing a few of my bottles (one is automatically disqualified for taking the wrong bottle), with the result I became dehydrated towards the end of the race. What happened was that they put all the athletes' bottles in one box, not separate for each country, and there was thus confusion as to which bottle belonged to whom. Being a race, I had no time to stop and search (!) ...
It was an AMAZING experience, and I learnt so much about other cultures and countries.
What I enjoyed most was the way all the athletes, no matter which country they represented or how they had performed, warmly congratulated each other and encouraged each other to do well.
I have never before experienced such true sportsmanship, and that was by far the highlight for me!
The race itself was completely different to any I'd ever run before. It was very hot, and windy, as we ran partly along the Izmir beachfront. There were km boards after only every 5km (unlike in SA!), with water every 5km (supplied by ourselves). Problems with identifying the correct bottle for each athlete led to me missing a few of my bottles (one is automatically disqualified for taking the wrong bottle), with the result I became dehydrated towards the end of the race. What happened was that they put all the athletes' bottles in one box, not separate for each country, and there was thus confusion as to which bottle belonged to whom. Being a race, I had no time to stop and search (!) ...
Not all the roads were closed, either, with the result that, at the 35km mark, I did not (obviously) hear a car approaching from behind, swerving between marshalls, and narrowly missing running me down! Despite this, I kept my focus, and ultimately, I achieved the goals I had set myself.
I came 7th out of 15 starters, and ran a Deaflympics qualifying time. My Manager has since informed me that I have been selected to represent Great Britain at next year's Deaflympics in Taipei.
1 comment:
Once Again from all of us, well done!!! WC-DCA
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