Comedian Abigoliah Schamaun has been training for the Brighton Half Marathon to raise money for domestic abuse charity RISE – you can sponsor her here. But that's just the half of it…
I did it. I ran the Brighton Half Marathon. I ran it in two hours, 13 minutes, and 13 seconds. That's the fastest I've ever run. I didn't stop once and damn does that feel good to say! I ran with pacers. Those are the lovely people who volunteer to run the race at a certain pace so if you're like me and get over excited, you don't run in a dead sprint the first two miles then die.
One of the pacers was a part of the Studio 57 Clinic and wore a bright blue lycra body suit that even covered his face! I don't know what that man looks like or who he is, but I'm in love with him and would marry him. Whenever we passed a portion of the crowd that was a bit quiet he'd shout at them, "Let's hear some noise for the 2:15 group!" It was so much fun running with such and enthusiastic man dressed as a cobalt Gumby.
I found the whole Half Marathon experience amazing. It was really rewarding raising money for RISE, the training was hard yet fun, and the day of the Half Marathon was fantastic! After the race the RISE volunteers had tea and cake for us runners! TEA and CAKE!!!
Anyway, I got chatting to Julie at RISE and asked if they have runners in the marathon, she said yes, in fact, a space just opened up on the 2015 team. My first thought was, "No I couldn't. I'm not ready yet". Then on the train ride back to London I thought, "I'm already half-way there…and if I'm going to run a Marathon before I'm 30 (which would be in November) this is my chance." So I emailed Julie and said I'm in!
So I went from thinking I had finished to realising I had only just started! I've committed to raising another £500 for RISE and especially after meeting the people who work for the company, there's not a charity I'd want to run for more. The Marathon is on 12th April, so if I stay focused I'll be ready. During some of my training I'll be on tour in South East Asia, so I'm looking forward to seeing and running new places.
Wish me luck! Here we go again!
To donate to a great cause and sponsor Abigoliah click here!
Pictured: Abigoliah with her well deserved Half Marathon medal and below her running mate, Gumby.
